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/ 

ED. GEERS' EXPERIENCE WITH THE 
TROTTERS AND PACERS. 



EMBRACING 



A BRIEF HISTORY OF HIS EARLY LIFE IN TENNESSEE, 

WITH DESCRIPTIONS OF SOME OF THE CUSTOMS 

PECULIAR TO THAT STATE, AND A 

GENERAL DESCRIPTION 



MOST NOTED HORSES HE HAS DRIVEN, 

TOGETHER WITH 

A LIST OF THE HORSES HE HAS GIVEN FAST RECORDS ; 

ALSO INSTRUCTIONS ABOUT 

Conditioning and Caring for the Horse 
before and during racing. 



BUFFALO, N. Y, 
1901. 



THE LIBRARY OF 

CONOnESS, 
Two Copies Received 

MAR. 30 1901 

COPYRieHT ENTRY 

CLASS Ct^Xc. No. 
COPY B. 



SF' 



.Gr3 



Copyright, 1901, by 
E. F. GEERS. 



IS WORKS, BUFFALO, N, 



TO 

MR. C. J. HAMLIN, 

ONE OF THE PIONEERS IN THE BREEDING AND DEVELOPMENT OF 

THE LIGHT-HARNESS HORSE, 

AND 

TO WHOSE LIBERALITY, INTELLIGENT INDUSTRY AND 

UNSWERVING FIDELITY THE RACE-GOING PUBLIC 

IS SO DEEPLY INDEBTED, 

THIS BOOK IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED 

BY THE AUTHOR. 



PREFACE. 

FOR several years past friends and horsemen in 
different parts of the country have importuned 
me to give in published form my experience in train- 
ing and driving light-harness horses, and as no work 
of this character has appeared in this country for a 
number of years, it occurred to me that if I was ever 
to do so the present is a very proper time to com- 
ply with this request, therefore I have rather reluc- 
tantly decided to publish this volume. I am indebted 
to Mr. P. M. Babcock, an old friend of mine, now re- 
siding in Buffalo, for whatever merit the editorial 
work of this book may possess, as the main part of it 
has been written by him, aided by such suggestions as 
I have been able to give. I have never kept a diary 
or other memoranda and hence the dates herein given 
are mainly from recollection, and, while some of them 
may be wrong, I believe them to be substantially cor- 
rect. With the expectation of a generous criticism of 
its merits and defects this book is submitted to the 
consideration of all who care to peruse its pages. 

E. F. GEERS. 

Buffalo, March i, 1901. 



INTRODUCTORY. 



TRAINING horses for races, and the development 
of speed, are arts almost as old as history itself, 
and, while different people at different epochs 
in the past have employed different methods for 
accompHshing the common object, the reader, in order 
to form a correct judgment as to the success and 
merits of one who has devoted the best years of his 
life to the accomplishment of developing the light- 
harness horse to his present high standard of excel- 
lence, must necessarily understand and appreciate the 
conditions surrounding his undertaking, and hence a 
brief summary of the conditions which existed in 
Tennessee at and prior to the time of my entering the 
arena would seem to be desirable. 

When Tennessee was settled, the lands were taken 
up by comparatively few people. These few land 
owners were a sport-loving people, and, to gratify their 
pleasure, imported large numbers of thoroughbred 
horses, some of which were among the best and most 
distinguished race horses of their day. There were 
very few regular racetracks in that State in those days ; 
but these large land owners nearly all had private 
tracks, or " rings," upon their vast estates, where the 
neighbors of a community would occasionally meet in 
friendly contests. It was soon demonstrated that, 
owing to the hilly country and stony and muddy 
roads, locomotion could best be accomplished by 
the use of the saddle horse, and hence it was that 



certain gentlemen imported from Kentucky a number 
of highly-bred pacing and saddle animals, and these 
being crossed with the thoroughbreds gave to the peo- 
ple of the State the foundation stock of the great 
families of pacers which have made the name of 
Tennessee a household word wherever the pacing and 
saddle horse is known and appreciated. This was the 
condition of affairs when the clouds of civil war rolled 
over this fair State and darkened nearly every home 
within its borders. When the war was over, it was 
found that most of the valuable and highly-bred horses 
of the State had disappeared, and what remained were 
the common-purpose horses used to carry on the 
business of a pretty well discouraged and nearly 
bankrupt people, and it may readily be imagined that 
in this state of affairs the minds of the people were 
upon something more substantial than racing horses. 
So little attention had been given to the training and 
development of harness horses for racing purposes 
that when I commenced my career as a trainer and 
driver, in 1872, there was but one old dilapidated mile 
track in the State, and not a single horse bred or de- 
veloped in the State had acquired a record below 2.30. 
Another element that contributed to this result was 
the fact that the only harness horses in the State 
during this period possessing sufficient speed to engage 
in turf contests were the pacers ; but at that time the 
pacer was not recognized as being entitled to demon- 
strate his merits upon the race tracks of the country, 
and hence pacing speed was of no value, and the 
horse that could pace a mile in 2.10 was worth no 
more in the market than one that could not pace a 
mile in three minutes, the only element of value being 
his ability and value as a saddle horse. But when, in 
10 



i879> ^^^^ great quartette, consisting of Blind Tom, 
Mattie Hunter, Rowdy Boy, and Lucy, electrified the 
race-going public by their brilliant achievements upon 
the race tracks of the North, the broad minded and 
generous hearted Colonel Edwards of Cleveland, then 
the controlling spirit of that celebrated track, pro- 
claimed that, at least upon that track, the pacer should 
no longer be considered as an outlaw, and from that 
period dates the value of the pacing horse in racing 
contests upon the different American race tracks. 

The first attempt to breed and develop trotting race 
horses in Tennessee, within my knowledge, was about 
the year 1868, when Rev. Talbert Fanning of Frank- 
lin College, Tennessee, brought some Morgans from 
Vermont. These horses were very beautiful in form, 
and, like nearly all of that family, were great road 
horses, possessing great endurance and plenty of speed 
for that purpose, but not sufficently fast for first-class 
track horses, and hence their breeding and training did 
not accomplish much in the upbuilding of the reputa- 
tion of the State as the home of the trotting race 
horse. Soon after this. Colonel John Overton of 
Nashville purchased and brought to the State the 
trotting-bred stallion Chieftain, who, although a well- 
bred horse, was not a great success upon the turf, nor 
as the sire of speed ; but some of his daughters proved 
to be good brood mares, and the blood of this horse is 
found in the pedigree of a number of good turf per- 
formers. Following the advent of Chieftain, Major 
Campbell Brown of Spring Hill purchased the horse 
Trouble, by Almont 33, and this horse also proved a 
disappointment to the breeding interests of the State. 
Blackwood, Jr., was next brought to the State by Mr. 
Zell of Nashville, and, while a good race horse for his 



day, he failed to impress his speed and race-horse 
qualities upon his get, and none, that I am aware of, 
ever became distinguished upon the turf. Of the 
other great horses that have since been owned and 
bred in the State it is not my purpose at this time to 
speak, but this summary should, I think, be sufficient 
to show that, as regards material upon which to work 
and facilties with which to accomplish results at the 
beginning of my career, I at least enjoyed no advan- 
tages not possessed by other drivers and trainers in 
other and more favored sections of the country. 



I 




n 



CHAPTER I. 

BRIEF HISTORY OF MY EARLY LIFE — EXPERIENCE 
DRIVING CALVES — SAW MY FIRST TROTTING 
RACE — MY FIRST TROTTING HORSE — CONSTRUC- 
TION OF MY FIRST RACE TRACK — OBJECTIONS OF 
MY PARENTS TO MY BECOMING A TRAINER AND 
DRIVER. 

I WAS born on a farm about three miles from 
Lebanon, Wilson County, Tennessee, January 25, 
185 1. My father was a farmer in moderate cir- 
cumstances, and during my boyhood, in addition to 
this, he also carried on a small country store at the 
place. 

My ambition to drive something — such as horses 
mules, oxen and colts — is associated with my earliest 
recollection, and when I was a small boy my father 
unwittingly placed in my hands the power to com- 
mence the gratification of this desire, by giving me a 
pair of calves which were the pride of my life, and 
for the time being satisfied all my desires. Soon after 
they became mine I commenced their education and 
training. I first put a rope on the horns of each and 
drove them around, one at a time, for a few days ; then 
I thought them well enough broken to drive together. 
Then I yoked them up, and, to make certain that they 
would not get away, I tied their tails together hard 
and fast, and started to drive them down through the 
grove. They made a plunge or two, when one released 
his head from the bow and became unyoked, and in 
13 



this condition they started to run. They raced side 
by side for a short distance until they came to a tree, 
then there was trouble, and I must confess that my 
inherited love for educating and training animals to 
drive received a severe shock, which came near 
dampening all the ardor which I possessed, as one calf 
passed to the right and the other to the left of that 
tree, and it did not require the wisdom of a philoso- 
pher to see that either the tree or the tails must give 
way, and it did not take long to determine the winner, 
as the smaller calf emerged from the contest minus 
about two feet of his tail, and bleeding as though his 
life would ebb away right then and there ; and when 
I contemplated the awful consequences that would 
surely come should this result be the crowning effort 
of my first attempt in starting up the pathway I 
hoped some day to follow, my blood was nearly frozen 
with fear ; but the calf finally recovered and they grew 
to be a fine yoke of oxen, and I spent many happy 
hours driving them. After they had grown up I 
traded them to my father for a two-year-old colt, 
worth about $50. I took extra care of him and soon 
had him thoroughly broken and looking well. 

One of the first pleasures in which the farmers and 
people in the country districts of Tennessee indulged 
after the war was in holding local or county fairs, and 
for many years thereafter this custom was, and to 
some extent still is, observed in most of the counties 
in the middle and western part of the State ; and 
while the facilities for exhibiting stock, etc., and for 
giving races at these fairs were, and are, inferior to 
those in some of the other parts of the country, yet 
they have undoubtedly been of material benefit in 
helping to raise the standard of all live-stock interests. 
14 



About the time I became possessed of this colt I 
attended our county fair and for the first time in my 
life witnessed a trotting race, which so filled me with 
enthusiasm that I resolved in the not distant future to 
own a trotter ; and as my colt had no speed at the trot- 
ting gait I resolved to trade him for one that did. I 
knew of a farmer in the neighborhood who had a nice 
little bay mare that could trot quite fast under the 
saddle, but had never been broken to harness, and I 
concluded it would be a good thing for me to trade 
my colt for her and see what I could make out of her. 
I approached the farmer upon the subject, and he 
wanted my colt and $20 for the mare. I made up my 
mind to trade if I could raise the $20, which I did not 
have. I submitted the proposition to my father and 
appealed to him for the money, which he gave me, 
and that day I traded for her, and she was the first 
trotter I ever attempted to handle for speed. I was 
then about seventeen years old. The first thing I did 
was to break her to harness, which was not difficult, 
as she was a good-tempered animal. We had a light 
open buggy on the place and it was only a few days 
before I was driving her quietly to it ; and as her 
breaking progressed, my love to ride fast began to as- 
sert itself, and I would urge her to step along every 
time I came to a smooth piece of road. She soon 
learned to speed in harness, and it was not long before 
she could outbrush any of the horses encountered upon 
the road. I was very proud of her and took the best 
care of her I knew how. She was very handsome and 
much admired, and I sold her for $225. After her 
sale I was anxious to get another and faster one. I 
knew of a plain-looking horse in the neighborhood, 
owned by a butcher, and used upon the butcher's cart, 
15 



that showed some speed at the trot. I bought him 
for $125, and at this time I also bought an old high- 
wheel sulky with springs, weighing about 1 10 pounds, 
for which I paid $15, and with this outfit I deemed 
myself fully equipped to commence preparations for 
winning some harness races. But there was no race 
track in that section, and a race track I must have 
upon which to educate my promising campaigner; 
and, having heard that necessity was the mother of 
invention, I proceeded as best I could to construct a 
track, but as I never had seen a regulation track and 
knew nothing of the procedure necessary to employ in 
its construction, the affair that resulted from my 
efforts was not such a one as Seth Griffin would ap- 
prove. I selected the top of a hill as a site, then tak- 
ing as long a rope as I could find I staked one end to 
the ground and at the other end of it drove a stake, 
then swung around in a circle, sticking stakes at dif- 
ferent places. Then I plowed up a space wide enough 
for me to drive, and when completed the track was 
about one-third of a mile long, and so irregular and 
crude that a horse would be justified in going any 
kind of a gait to get over it, and I have often 
thought I was exceedingly lucky in being able to 
remain in the sulky while driving over its rough and 
irregular surface. I was then attending school and 
the only time I could get to devote to the construc- 
tion of the track was out of school hours and on 
Saturdays. At this time I was beset with troubles 
and difficulties that for a time threatened to crush 
my ambition, as my parents were greatly opposed 
to my devoting my life to training horses, and 
my father greatly desired my assistance in the store 
and wished me to pursue a mercantile life ; and it was 
16 



only after many spirited family consultations and my 
persistent declarations to become a driver of fast 
horses that the attempt to make a merchant out of me 
was reluctantly abandoned by ray parents, and I was 
allowed to proceed with the education of my prospec- 
tive race horse. But here I encountered difficulties 
which I had not anticipated ; the horse was rather 
long gaited, and by reason of my track being so short 
and the turns so sharp, he could not extend himself, 
and I was obliged to take him on the road every time 
I wanted him to step fast, and for this reason his edu- 
cation did not progress very rapidly, but I finally got 
him in condition so that he could trot a mile in about 
2.50, which was considered very good for a green horse 
in those days, and I sold him for $400. After doing 
so well with this horse and selling him for so good a 
price, the farmers in the neighborhood seemed to 
think I could make a race horse out of most anything, 
and could sell any old plug for three or four hundred 
dollars; and as at that time there were only two or 
three men in Tennessee who pretended to condition 
and handle horses for speed, I soon had several horses 
sent me to break and handle, and I did very well with 
some of them and sold them for their owners for 
good prices. 



CHAPTER II. 

MY FIRST RACE WITH LITTLE DAVE — REV. MR. 
FANNING — GEORGE FULLER — MY FIRST TRIP 
THROUGH THE GRAND CIRCUIT. 

THE success which attended my efforts in break- 
ing and training these few horses was known to 
Reverend Talbert Fanning, of whom I have 
spoken, and in the summer of 1871 or 1872 he wrote 
me to come and see him. I did so, and made an 
arrangement with him to go to his place and handle 
his recently imported Morgan horses for one year. 
One of these horses was a small chestnut stallion, 
about 14^2 hands high, called ^' Little Dave." He 
was a pure-gaited trotter, and we thought he could 
trot quite fast for so small a horse. Mr. Fanning 
also had a pair of gray geldings that were of fair 
size, quite stylish, and matched well. They, also, 
had quite a fair amount of speed. That fall there 
were several county fairs in Wilson and adjoining 
counties, and I expressed to Mr. Fanning a desire to 
take Little Dave and the gray team to the fairs and 
enter them in the show classes. He readily gave his 
consent and I took them to Lebanon. I entered the 
pair as a double team, also entered one of the geldings 
as a single driver, and also entered Little Dave in the 
stallion class, and took a premium with each entry. 
On the last day of the fair there was a trotting race in 
which I started Little Dave hitched to a skeleton 
wagon and won the race, best time 3.04, and I 



thought both the horse and myself were flying. That 
was the first race in which I had ever driven, and not- 
withstanding that I have since participated in many 
of the fastest and most sensational races ever trotted 
and paced in America, the pride I experienced in win- 
ning that race yet lingers in my memory as among my 
greatest triumphs. From Lebanon I went to Mur- 
freesboro, and won at that place about the same as I 
had done at Lebanon, and returned home as happy and 
proud as I imagine a general would be after having 
won a series of battles. But I was perplexed to know 
what to do about telling Mr. Fanning of having raced 
Little Dave, when I reported the result of my trip to 
him. While I knew him to be a man fond of horses 
and one that was as fond as any one of riding fast on 
the road, yet the thought that he was a minister 
made me feel that he might be offended because, 
without his knowledge or consent, I had entered and 
raced one of his horses, as I knew as a general 
thing that ministers did not indulge in horse racing; 
but when I frankly told him all I had done he smiled 
and, although he said nothing, I could see by his looks 
and actions that he was as proud and happy over the 
success I had met with as I was. He died that fall or 
early winter, and, as his family did not care to continue 
the training of the horses, I returned to my home more 
determined than ever to succeed in the vocation I had 
chosen. I did not long remain idle, as some parties 
near there soon sent me three or four horses to handle, 
which I trained to the satisfaction of their owners, and 
this kept me busy for some time. 

It must be remembered that at this time nearly all 
the horses in that vicinity which showed any speed 
were natural pacers, and, as there were scarcely any 
19 



sulkies, these horses were speeded at fairs and other 
horse shows under the saddle ; and, as the pacing gait 
was of no value, in order to realize anything out of 
their development for speed the horses must be con- 
verted from pacers to trotters, and to accomplish this 
with the crude facilities then at hand and the limited 
knowledge I had upon the subject many incidents that 
now seem amusing occurred. I knew of a horse that 
could pace fast under the saddle and I believed I could 
break him to harness and convert him to the trotting 
gait, and so I bought him for $200, which was a large 
price for a green, unbroken horse. I soon broke him 
to harness and commenced my experiment in teaching 
him to trot. I understood that to make a natural 
pacer trot he must carry an unnatural weight on his 
front feet, so I went to work contriving how to accom- 
plish this result. I had him shod in front with shoes 
weighing one and a half pounds each, then I had a 
pair of leather sacks made that would each hold a 
pound of shot, then filled these sacks with shot, soaked 
them thoroughly in water, then buckled them around 
the front feet, thus compelling him to carry an extra 
weight of two and a half pounds on each front foot. 
With this weight he would square away and trot all 
right on the road, but when I tried him on the track 
it was so short that he would not, or could not, handle 
himself, and would get tangled up, and I was compelled 
to work him almost entirely on the road. He de- 
veloped speed very rapidly and within sixty days 
from the time I bought him I took him to Nashville 
and started him in a trotting race against four or five 
other horses, and, notwithstanding his handicap by 
reason of this heavy weight, he trotted a good race, 
winning second money, and undoubtedly had speed 



enough to have won the race easily if he had not been 
thus handicapped. The best time, I think, in this race 
was about 2.40. The day of that race I refused $1,000 
for him, as I thought I had a world-beater. But I 
gained some costly experience by this refusal, as after 
keeping him and training him a year or two longer 
I sold him for $300. His keeping and handling cost 
me all the money I had made on the other horses. 
This experience made me think I did not know as 
much about conditioning and handling racehorses as I 
supposed I did a few months previous ; but this sad 
experience was not without its compensations, as it 
taught me that it seldom pays to try and make a 
fast trotter out of a natural pacer, as the weight re- 
quired to make them trot is so great as to create too 
much of a handicap to enable them to compete with 
natural trotters. I am aware that there are exceptions 
to this rule ; the most prominent, perhaps, is that of 
Old Smuggler, a natural pacer who carried about two 
pounds of weight on each fore foot during his trotting 
races, and although he and some other natural pacers 
have made successful trotting race horses, yet my ex- 
perience and observation is that as a rule the horse 
will do much better if allowed to go his natural gait. 
About the time I sold this horse, Mr. George Fuller, 
now in the employ of the Russian Government as 
chief trainer of its trotting horses, opened a training 
stable at Nashville, and among the horses he was 
handling, was a mare called Tennessee, which he was 
preparing for the Northern circuit. She was a fast 
trotter. I arranged with him to go along and take 
care of her. This was my first experience in taking 
lessons of a competent man in preparing horses for a 
campaign. I regard Mr. Fuller as one of the very 
21 



best men to condition, train and drive horses I have 
ever known. I went through the grand circuit with 
him, and the lessons I received under his instruction 
have been of great benefit to me in my career since 
that time. This experience gave me more confidence 
in myself, and the next season (1875) I opened a pub- 
lic training stable at Nashville, where I handled a 
number of horses and had several that could beat 
2.40, and, as fast records were not as numerous in 
those days as they have since become, I thought I did 
pretty well. While training my stable that season I 
met Major Campbell Brown of Spring Hill, Tennes- 
see. He was the grandest and best-informed man in 
everything that pertained to the breeding of fast har- 
ness horses I have ever known ; and I deem it but 
just to say that no man in the State of Tennessee has 
done more than he did in raising the standard of the 
light-harness horse in that State to the position which 
it has since occupied. At that time I made an ar- 
rangement with him to handle his horses that fall. 
Among those he then owned was a black mare called 
Alice West, by Almont 33. She was very handsome 
and stylish and I soon found that she had a great deal 
of speed. I took her to the fair at Columbia, with 
several others, that fall, and took eleven premiums out 
of twelve entries ; soon after this I took two or three 
show horses and two trotters and went to the fairs in 
Georgia and Alabama. One of the trotters was a 
horse called East Lynn, who could trot in about 2.40, and 
I sold him at the first place I went. The other was a 
mare called Diana. I started her in the green classes 
and wound up in the free for all. I gave her a record 
of 2.33, and she never lost a race on the trip. I returned 
to Major Brown feeling that I had been quite successful. 



CHAPTER III. 

ALICE WEST — LIZZIE THE SECOND — JOE BRADEN — A 
QUEER ACCIDENT — AN UNFAIR RACE DECISION — 
THE ONLY TIME I WAS EVER TAKEN OUT OF A 
SULKY AND THE RESULT. 

I LEASED and took possession of the old fair 
ground about two miles west of Columbia, Tenn., 
in the spring of 1876, and used the old track for 
jogging and working the horses I had in training from 
that time until the spring of 1889, when I was again 
employed by Major Brown to train a large stable 
he had at the Ewell Farm at Spring Hill, and 
remained there until I went to Village Farm in the 
early spring of 1892; and while at Major Brown's I 
also trained at his track the horses I had been 
working at my stable, and also took some additional 
horses to handle. Commencing with the season of 
1877, I went North with what horses I considered 
good enough and raced over the different tracks 
of the North, generally commencing in July and 
ending in September, leaving a good man at home 
to work the horses I did not take with me ; and 
when my Northern circuit was over I went South 
through the States of Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia 
and Mississippi, and sometimes extended my excur- 
sions as far South as Florida and Texas, and wound 
up the season late in December, when I would return 
to my home near Columbia and turn the horses out for 
a while. I continued this custom, from 1877, as long 
23 



as I continued to reside in Tennessee. Early in the 
season of 1877, Major Brown placed in my hands the 
mare Alice West, of whom I have spoken, to condition 
and prepare for the season's campaign. She was then 
four years old, very speedy, and a game race mare. 
I think I left Tennessee with her that season in July 
and started her in a number of races through the 
North, and at New York I gave her a record of 2.26. 
She was the first trotter I ever marked below 2.30, 
and this was my first experience in conducting a 
campaign for myself in the North. I won several 
good races with her, and returned to Tennessee and 
took some other horses in my stable, which had been 
worked some during my absence, and started for the 
fairs about to be held in Alabama and Georgia. 
While at Montgomery on this trip a very peculiar 
accident occurred, which might have resulted seriously, 
but which fortunately did not, and only added excite- 
ment to the race. A Mr. Beebe, the driver and part 
owner of a horse called Fred Tyler, entered his horse 
in a race one day, and in the first heat of the race his 
horse acted badly, and came very near being shut out. 
I had an entry in another race which was being sand- 
wiched in with his race. As I was about leaving the 
track after a heat in my race, I met Mr. Beebe with 
Fred Tyler coming onto the track ready to start in the 
second heat, and he requested me to drive his horse 
the rest of his race, which I consented to do. I sent 
my horse to the stable and when about to get up 
behind Fred Tyler I noticed that the sulky looked 
weak and unsafe. I took hold of one of the wheels 
and it seemed loose and anything but solid. I told 
Mr. Beebe I did not like the looks of his sulky, and 
did not think it was safe. He said it was all right, 
24 



that he was a much heavier man than I was, that he 
had driven a number of races with it, and if it would 
hold him it certainly would hold me, and with this 
assurance I reluctantly mounted the sulky and the 
race soon commenced. It was a half-mile track, and 
there were several horses in the race, but it soon 
became apparent that the contest would be between 
Fred Tyler and another horse, who had full as 
much speed as he had. When we reached the head 
of the stretch in the last half of the mile, Fred Tyler 
and the other contending horse were about on equal 
terms, and when I called on my horse for an extra 
spurt, he left his feet, and to get him back to his gait 
I pulled first sharply on the right rein, and then on 
the left. With the second pull he settled into a 
square trot, but the effort in pulling so hard on the left 
rein threw my weight on the outside wheel of the 
sulky, and it instantly collapsed, the spokes leaving 
the hub and the hub striking the ground, but, strange 
as it may seem, this mishap did not cause the horse to 
break and did not unseat me. This accident occurred 
about 150 yards from the wire, and I drove to the 
wire with one hub dragging on the ground, and Fred 
Tyler, under the persuasion of the whip, won the heat, 
amid the plaudits of as excited an audience as was 
ever seen upon a race track. I stopped a few feet 
beyond the wire, and some gentleman in the audience 
ran up to the sulky and took hold of the hub and 
raised it up, and carried it in his hand while I drove 
back to the judges' stand. Another sulky was then 
procured and I went on and won the race. While no 
harm resulted to anything but the old sulky, I confess 
I have never cared to repeat this experience. There 
are hundreds of people still living in Montgomery who 
25 



witnessed this thrilling episode, and I never go to that 
city that I do not meet some one who speaks of it. 

When I started upon my career as a trainer and 
driver, I was impressed with the idea that integrity, 
courtesy, and gentlemanly conduct should be carried 
into the training stable and upon the race track to 
the same extent that obtains in the court room, the 
bank and the store ; and I have ever endeavored to 
observe this rule of conduct in the part I have taken 
in training and driving horses during the past quarter 
of a century. But while upon one of these Southern 
campaigns — and I think it was in the fall of 1877 — 
it was my fortune to come in contact with one who 
did not seem to entertain the same ideas upon this 
subject that I did. One of the horses I then had in 
my stable was a mare called Lizzie the Second. She 
was a strong, level-headed, good-gaited mare, and 
speedy enough for anything in her class at these races. 
At Americus, Ga., I started her in a race in which 
was a Mr. Bradley driving a horse whose name I do 
not remember. It was a half-mile track, and my posi- 
tion in the race was next outside of Mr. Bradley. My 
mare and the horse Mr. Bradley was driving were the 
chief contending horses in the race. We raced along 
close together and when the back stretch was reached 
on the second half mile, my mare was up to his wheel 
and, seeing that I was likely to pass him, he pulled his 
horse toward the outside fence, and so close to it that 
there was not enough room for me to pass between 
his sulky and the fence. I requested him to move 
over and give me room to pass. He paid no attention 
to this request, but, if anything, pulled his horse still 
nearer my mare. I called upon him several times to 
move over, but he still continued to pay no attention 
26 



to my demands, and I finally told him I should try 
and go through. He said nothing, but kept his horse 
in the same position. My inside sulky wheel was then 
locked inside of his outside wheel. I braced myself 
well, and threw my weight on the inside of the sulky 
shaft, took a strong hold upon the mare, and clucked 
to her and she responded to my urging. When he 
realized the situation he turned his horse toward the 
inside of the track, which brought the force of my 
locked wheel nearly against the side of his wheel, and 
the spokes of his wheel commenced to fly in all direc- 
tions. His wheel was broken in many pieces and he 
was thrown several feet in the air. My sulky wheel 
passed over what remained of the wreck ; my mare 
never broke her trot, and I easily won the heat. I 
was then a young man and scarcely known to the 
judges. He was an experienced driver, and the horse 
he was driving belonged to a prominent and influen- 
tial man, well known to the judges. After the heat 
I went to the judges and explained the exact situa- 
tion to them. Mr. Bradley and the owner of the horse 
he was driving were also there. The judges heard 
our statements and I think the owner of the other 
horse must have exercised some hypnotic influence 
over them, as they decided I did wrong ; declared the 
heat off; sent me and my mare to the stable, and 
allowed Bradley to start again. I then thought, and 
have always believed, that under the racing rules and 
all rules of fairness I was in the right and clearly en- 
titled to the heat. This is the only time in the his- 
tory of my experience that I ever intentionally col- 
lided with another driver, and the only time I was 
ever sent to the stable for alleged foul driving. The 
next day there was a free-for-all trot in which were the 
27 



horses Hotspur, Flora Belle, Alice West and Tornado, 
Alice West being my entry, and this same Mr. Brad- 
ley was behind Hotspur. These horses all had records 
ranging from 2.22 held by Hotspur, to 2.26 held by 
Alice West. Hotspur drew the pole and was a very 
fast scorer. Flora Belle and Tornado were slow in 
scoring. I had by this time given Alice West suffi- 
cient experience, so that she was a reliable race mare, 
and very handy in catching after making a break. We 
commenced scoring, and Mr. Bradley would rush Hot- 
spur at the top of his speed regardless of where the 
other horses were, and would not attempt to get a 
fair even start. After several unsuccessful attempts 
at starting I told the judges that Mr. Bradley was not 
trying to score for a fair start, and that he should 
come slow to the wire and allow the other horses that 
could not score as fast as Hotspur to get on even 
terms with him. But Bradley seemed to think he was 
doing the proper thing. We went back to score again, 
and, as usual, Bradley rushed Hotspur ahead of the 
rest of us, and not wishing to be left entirely in the 
rear, should the judges send us off, I clucked to Alice 
West and she immediately broke into a run and over- 
took Hotspur just before the wire was reached, when 
I settled her in a trot, and she and Hotspur went un- 
der the wire head and head, and the judges said "go," 
both Flora Belle and Tornado being at least fifty 
yards back. Alice West was at that time a new horse 
to the race followers in that section, and every one, 
knowing of the record and reputation of old Hotspur, 
thought the race to be only a matter of form and that 
Hotspur could not be beaten, but I did not share in 
this opinion. We raced on about even terms until we 
came to a part of the track that was very sandy, when 
28 



old Hotspur began to tire, and I easily won the heat, 
and won the race, and felt that I had been revenged 
for the ill treatment I had received the day before. I 
also won two or three other races at that meeting. 

In 1884, I purchased Joe Braden, then a green horse, 
that showed a good way of going under the saddle, and 
when I took him his feet were in a very bad condition, 
by reason of which he developed speed very slowly ; 
but I believed if I could get his feet in condition to 
stand work he would learn to pace fast. I resorted to 
every device within my knowledge and spent many 
sleepless hours trying to invent something that would 
sufficiently protect his feet to enable him to endure 
the hardships of racing. My efforts were at last suc- 
cessful, and he became a good horse, and in his pre- 
paratory work, one spring, paced a quarter of a mile to 
a high-wheeled sulky, over the old, uneven, fair ground 
track at Columbia, in thirty-one seconds. I cam- 
paigned him through the North in 1885 and 1886, and 
gave him a record of 2.15^. He developed into a 
first-class race horse, and except for his tender feet, 
which would occasionally cause him to suffer so much 
pain that he would not extend himself and would 
break, he would have been one of the best race horses 
of his day. In the fall of 1886 I took my stable 
South, and at Gainsville, Texas, entered Joe Braden 
in the free-for-all pace. The track was very hard, 
which caused Braden to be unsteady, but I think I 
would have won the race had not Braden left his feet 
in the second heat, which caused him to lose that heat. 
After this heat the judges took me out of the sulky, 
and put up a new driver, which did not improve mat- 
ters, as the horse was more unsteady than ever, and, 
with the best efforts the driver could command, Joe 
29 



Braden finished the heat behind the flag, thus demon- 
strating that my removal from the sulky was entirely 
without cause. Of course, I felt mortified at being 
thus removed from my sulky, and I am proud to say 
that in all my experience as a driver this is the only 
time I have ever been taken out of a sulky by the 
judges in a race. 



30 



CHAPTER IV. 

MATTIE HUNTER — SOME OF HER GREAT RACES. 

I FIRST saw Mattie Hunter in the summer of 1875. 
She was then three years old. She was very hand- 
some and stylish, a bright chestnut, with white 
strip in face, white stockings behind, and one in front. 
I do not think she had then been broken to harness, 
but could pace quite fast under the saddle. Her con- 
formation, style and gameness gave evidence of breed- 
ing of a high character, but beyond her sire and dam 
nothing can ever be known. At the close of the war, 
the Government had a large number of horses at 
Nashville, which had been gathered in by the soldiers 
from different places, and no one knew from whence 
they came or anything about their breeding. These 
horses were sold at public auction, and among them 
was a tall, rangy, chestnut colt, then three years old. 
He was very poor, and had every appearance of having 
been ridden hard and poorly taken care of. This colt 
was purchased by Major Alman of Cornersville, Tenn., 
and by him named Prince Pulaski. With rest and 
care he improved rapidly, and when matured was one 
of the handsomest and best show horses I ever saw ; 
and while his breeding was, and probably will forever 
remain, unknown, his style, beautiful head and neck, 
perfect legs, and smooth conformation, furnished 
indisputable evidence of royal breeding, and that he 
possessed a large element of the best thoroughbred 
blood then known in that section of the country. In 
31 



1 8/ 1, he was bred to a small chestnut mare with white 
markings, of unknown breeding, the product being the 
filly Mattie Hunter, foaled in 1872. I know that 
many turf writers in speaking of Mattie Hunter have 
said that her dam was a Texas pony, while others 
have said she was by Driver, but I have never known 
or seen anything to warrant these statements, and 
from all the information I have been able to gather 
upon the subject I believe she was a small chestnut 
saddle mare and a natural pacer. Early in 1878 the 
owner of Mattie Hunter brought her to me to train 
and race that season. I had never ridden or driven 
her before then. She had been broken to harness, but 
had been speeded but little in harness. She developed 
speed very rapidly, and I soon discovered that she had 
more speed than any horse I had yet handled, and was 
one of the purest-gaited pacers I have ever seen. Her 
temperament was of the best, and it was not long 
before she could show a 2.20 gait. In the fall of 1878 
I concluded to take some of the horses I had in train- 
ing to several fairs in the Southern States, among 
them being Mattie Hunter. On this trip I met Sleepy 
George in a number of contests. He was driven by 
Mr. Crawford, known as "Counselor" Crawford, who 
was an accomplished reinsman. At that time Sleepy 
George had a record, as I remember, of about 2.15, 
and was considered the fastest pacer then upon the 
turf. In the first race or two Sleepy George, by reason 
of his being an experienced campaigner, was able 
to defeat the mare ; but as soon as she had had a little 
experience she could outpace him, and I won several 
good races from him with her. She retired that fall 
with a record of 2.19^. This does not seem to be 
very fast time for a horse of her ability ; but it must 
32 



be remembered that these races were over tracks that 
were very sandy, and as a general thing not in first- 
class condition. I concluded to winter my horses in 
Montgomery, Ala., that winter, so as to get them in 
good condition for the next season's campaign; and 
as I had done so well with Mattie Hunter, her owner 
concluded to leave her in my hands to winter, and to 
campaign the next season. The weather was quite 
warm, and the roads and track were soft, and very 
favorable for jogging horses. I took the shoes off 
Mattie Hunter after her fall campaign, and jogged her 
barefooted nearly all winter. She did not require any 
boots in jogging, and scarcely any at all in her races. 
While working her barefooted one day in the early 
spring I drove her a quarter of a mile to a high- 
wheeled sulky in thirty seconds, a feat I have never 
known to be equaled by any horse. She came out 
in the spring of 1879 '^^ splendid condition, and I 
believed her good enough to go in any company. 
While pacing races up to that time had not been 
favored at the great race meetings of the North, 
it so happened that season that there were a number 
of fast pacers being worked and developed in different 
parts of the country, among them being Blind Tom, 
Rowdy Boy, Lucy, Sleepy George, and others. The 
newspapers had printed so much about the ex- 
treme speed each of these horses could show, that the 
public clamored for their appearance in contests at 
the different large race meetings, and public opinion 
demanded of the different associations in the Grand 
Circuit that purses sufficiently large be offered to ac- 
complish their appearance; and yielding to this de- 
mand, the associations did offer very liberal purses for 
a class of free-for-all pacers. I knew that the horses tg 
33 



be met in these races were experienced campaigners, 
and very fast, game, and reliable race horses. I also 
knew that in Mattie Hunter I had as good-gaited a 
pacer and as game a race horse as the turf had yet 
seen. So I concluded to enter her in these great con- 
tests. The first of these meetings was at Jackson, 
Mich. And in that race, as near as I can remem- 
ber, were Blind Tom, Lucy, Rowdy Boy, Sleepy 
George, and Mattie Hunter. This race was won by 
Blind Tom, I think, in about 2.14, Mattie Hunter 
finishing a very close second. From there we went to 
Grand Rapids, Louisville, Toledo, Cleveland, Chi- 
cago and other places. While Sleepy George was a 
contending factor in the first few of these races the 
pace soon became too warm for him and he dropped 
out, leaving the great quartet to continue the battle. 
These races were the sensations of the racing world 
that year. I won some of the races with Mattie 
Hunter, but Blind Tom carried off a majority of the 
victories. I think one of the best races I have ever 
witnessed was in Chicago, which was won by Blind 
Tom. In the fifth heat of that race, which was paced 
in about 2.i2j^, and was won by Blind Tom, Mattie 
Hunter finished second, and was only about a neck 
behind the leader. As near as I can now remember, I 
gave Mattie Hunter a record in these races of about 
2.13 or 2.14. While at the meeting in Chicago, Mat- 
tie Hunter was sold to Mr. R. C. Pate of St. Louis, 
who finished that season's campaign with her, and 
raced her some time afterwards. She afterwards re- 
duced her record to 2.125^, and was finally purchased, 
after her racing days were about over, by Mr. Emery 
of Cleveland, where she was used as a brood mare 
until she died some time ago. 
34 



CHAPTER V. 

TENNESSEE PASTIMES — FIRST MONDAY — COLT SHOWS 
— FOX HUNTING. 

PEOPLE residing in the North who have not visited 
or become acquainted with the methods pecu- 
liar to the people of Tennessee, can hardly ap- 
preciate some of the pastimes in which those people 
indulge. The first Monday of every month in the 
year has been a holiday nearly, if not quite, ever since 
the State was settled, and on this day nearly all the 
people in the county will go to the county seat and 
spend the day. On these days every one who has 
horses to sell or trade, cattle, pigs, machinery or pro- 
duce to sell, will bring their stock and property to the 
county seat to be seen, exhibited, sold and traded, and 
it is not an uncommon thing for several thousand 
people to congregate there on these occasions, and 
amusing incidents are of frequent occurrence. Not 
many years ago, on one of these occasions, at Pulaski, 
Giles County, a man appeared seated in a wagon, 
having in front of him a glass churn, three or four feet 
high, filled about one-half or two-thirds full of cream. 
He was seated in a large, easy rocking chair, reading a 
paper and smoking a pipe. There was a rod running 
from the churn to the rocking chair and so adjusted 
that every time he rocked the dasher of the churn 
would rise up and down, and so he continued to rock, 
smoke and read, occasionally looking out from behind 
his paper to see if the butter had come ; and many a 
35 



boy, as he watched this process of butter-making and 
remembered how his back and arms ached when pur- 
suing the methods taught by his father, voted this the 
greatest invention of the age, and that the man who 
invented that churn ought to have cold watermelon 
the rest of his days. Another feature of these days is 
the horse trading, and in some counties it is known 
as " Jockey Day," and every one who has a horse he 
desires to sell or trade will bring him in and put him 
in a yard known as '' Jockey Yard," and it is not un- 
common to see several hundred horses of all kinds and 
descriptions in one of these yards, and before night 
they will generally be disposed of. If any are left 
after the buyers and traders are through, an auctioneer 
is brought in and the balance are sold under the 
hammer. When night comes, every one who has 
'' swapped " horses thinks he has made a small fortune 
by his cleverness in outwitting the man at the other 
end of the trade ; but I imagine they generally come 
out about the same as the two men of whom a story 
is told, who went into the woods in the fall of the year 
to chop wood ; one of them had a watch and the other 
a fiddle. The first evening after they arrived they 
traded even, and each thought he had made several 
dollars by the transaction ; and as this business seemed 
to be much easier and more lucrative than chopping 
wood, they did nothing all winter but trade the watch 
and fiddle back and forth ; and when spring came each 
claimed to have made a good winter's work, each 
having the same property he had when winter began 
and not a dollar had passed between them. In the 
spring months stallions owned in the county, and 
frequently those of an outside county, are brought to- 
gether on these days for the inspection of farmers and 
36 



breeders of the vicinity, and as the saddle and pacing 
gaits are the ones generally desired in the country dis- 
tricts, the horses are shown under saddle ; first show- 
ing the saddle gaits, such as the fox trot, running walk, 
single foot and canter, and then they will go up the 
road a few hundred yards and pace down to a given 
point, and sometimes these horses will show a great 
turn of speed. I think one of the best exhibitions of 
riding and speeding under saddle I ever remember to 
have witnessed was at Lebanon, when I was a boy. 
On one of these days, in the spring of the year, there 
were a number of stallions exhibited, among them 
being a gray or white pacing stallion, called Mountain 
Slasher, a horse well known to Tennesseeans. This 
horse was shown by William Goldston, one of the best 
riders and horsemen in the State. After the horses 
had shown their saddle gaits they all went up the road 
several hundred yards to pace down. When they 
were ready, Goldston placed the riding whip in his 
mouth, dropped the bridle rein on Slasher's neck, 
placed his hands on his hips and, with arms akimbo, 
started with the others ; and on they came, Goldston 
sitting as erect as a piece of statuary, and every little 
while sticking the spurs into the sides of Slasher, who 
with the reins lying loose on his neck, and without 
anything to steady him except his inherent pacing in- 
stinct, regardless of stones and the rough uneven sur- 
face, never broke his true even pace, and clearly out- 
paced all his competitors and carried off the laurels of 
the day. I mention this incident mainly to show how 
intensely the pacing instinct is instilled in the pacing 
horses of Tennessee, and how difficult it has been to 
convert them to trotting. From the time the colt is 
old enough to stand he knows nothing but pace, and 
37 



I have seen dogs set upon colts a year or two old and 
they would race across the fields and never break the 
pacing gait. 

In that portion of the State known as Middle Tennes- 
see, and in other counties where the breeding of horses 
is carried on to any considerable extent, the custom of 
holding colt shows has been observed for many years. 
These colt shows are generally held in August, and 
concluded just before the beginning of the county 
fairs, which commence early in September and con- 
tinue through September and a large part of October. 
They are held in or near the small villages and are 
looked forward to by the farming community as one 
of the chief events of the year. The **ring" is gen- 
erally made in a shady woodland, and when the morn- 
ing of the show arrives a sight is presented to one not 
accustomed to it as picturesque as it is novel. Along 
the road leading to the ring will come the owner of a 
stallion leading or riding the pride of his life, all 
bedecked with ribbons and groomed so slick as to raise 
a suspicion that bear's grease has been used in his final 
preparation. Next will appear a farmer leading a 
mare, beside which is her offspring several months old, 
and often the colt will be wearing a fancy bitting 
harness, in which it seems perfectly at home. But 
more curious than all these is the old colored mammy 
mounted on the old reliable saddle mare, with one child 
astride in front and several mounted in the same 
way behind, so that this ''beast of burden " is loaded 
from her shoulders to her tail, and traveling in this 
manner most of the community gather near where the 
exercises are to be held. These shows commence in 
the morning and frequently last all day, and no one 
ever need be afraid that he will suffer from hunger in 
38 



attending a show of this character, as the good and 
thoughtful housewives of the exhibitors will prepare 
a spread large enough to feed an army. Several thou- 
sand people often attend these shows, and they are 
not only very enjoyable but instructive to the breed- 
ers who attend. Classes are made and premiums 
offered for pretty much everything, including stallions, 
brood mares, sucklings, yearlings, two and three-year- 
old colts, etc. When the master of ceremonies is ready, 
the judges enter the ring and class after class is brought 
in and exhibited, and it will surprise a novice to see 
how fast some of these colts can pace. Seated upon a 
running or pacing horse the attendant will take the 
reins attached to the colt's bitting harness and away 
they will fly, the colt pacing up to the saddler's head. 
This manner of exhibiting speed is observed with the 
different colt classes, and when everything any one 
desires to enter has been exhibited and passed upon by 
the judges, the crowd disperses to assemble again in a 
few days at some neighboring village, where the same 
ceremony is repeated, and at these miniature fairs is 
commenced the career of some of the great horses the 
State sends out to the racing world. 

Fox hunting is a custom common to most of the South- 
ern States, and I know of no sport more enjoyable or 
exhilarating, not even an exciting horse race ; and I 
have spent many happy hours in this enjoyable pas- 
time. Many of the prominent residents of these States 
own packs of hounds, and when a fox hunt is desired, 
frequently several neighbors will assemble together, 
when the host will produce a fox-horn, blow a blast or 
two, and the hounds will come running and baying 
from all directions, ready and eager for the chase. 
Then, mounted on saddle horses, the hunters with the 
39 



hounds will start for some locality where the red fox is 
supposed to have his domicile, and when that territory- 
is reached the fun commences. When the dogs strike 
the trail there is no mistaking the fact, as their deep, 
rich voices can be heard for miles, and, as soon as 
they indicate the direction in which the fox is heading, 
the hunters start at breakneck speed and endeavor to 
keep within hailing distance of the hounds. These hunts 
are often had at night when it is so dark that the 
hunters can scarcely see ten feet ahead, and the course 
pursued by the fox frequently requires them to ride 
through the woods, over fences and ditches, logs and 
rocks, up and down hills so steep, that serious injury 
seems to await both horses and riders ; but these hunters 
are fearless, and experts in the saddle, and the horses 
are surefooted and courageous, and seem to enter into 
the spirit of the chase with as much enthusiasm as 
the riders, and accidents of any consequence rarely 
happen. When the fox is caught or the chase aban- 
doned, a blast on the horn will call the hounds to the 
hunters, and another field will be invaded ; or hunters 
and hounds will return to their homes, and, whether 
laden with the trophies of victory or not, they have 
enjoyed a most delightful outing. I recall one hunt of 
this character which occurred when I was a boy, that 
was so fraught with exciting and comical incidents I 
cannot repress the impulse to relate it. One of our 
neighbors was Squire Winford, whose son Alfred was 
about my own age, and we were great chums. Squire 
Winford had one of the best packs of fox hounds in 
the State, and in this pack were two of the best 
hounds I ever saw. Their names were ''Troupe ** and 
" Flounce." I then owed five or six pretty good 
hounds, and Alfred and I often went fox hunting with 
40 



our combined forces. Some two or three miles from 
our house one of the largest red foxes ever seen in 
that locality had his habitation, and he was known far 
and wide as " Old Spot," because he had a large white 
spot on his right side, which was plainly visible to 
hunters in the daytime. Old Spot was as game and 
wily as any fox that ever led a pack of hounds a for- 
lorn chase, and seemed to enjoy being pursued by 
hounds better than stealing and eating a tender young 
chicken from a farmer's hencoop ; and whenever Alfred 
and I wanted some fun we would take the dogs down 
to the domain of Old Spot, who seemed to anticipate 
our coming and was always ready to mingle in the 
sport. He had his regular runways, and had so 
planned his course that it would describe the figure 8 
and cross and recross his tracks, and when the hounds 
would get tired of following him he would seek his 
resting place and be ready for another chase. We had 
chased him so much that we did not believe all the 
hounds in the State could catch him, and so declared 
to our friends ; and this declaration stirred up the 
hunting blood of a number of sportsmen far and near, 
who each claimed to have the best dogs in the world, 
and ones that no fox could escape, and it was not long 
before an organized effort was suggested to try and 
catch Old Spot. The ones forming this sanguinary 
syndicate were Mr. A., Mr. G., Mr. B., Mr. S., Alfred 
and myself. Each of these gentlemen had a pack of 
hounds, numbering about nine or ten, so that when 
the hunters assembled there were more than fifty 
hounds, each eager to get the first taste of blood from 
Old Spot. At the head of Mr. A.'s pack was a hound 
called " Ranger," that was celebrated for his fleetness 
and staying qualities. The pack of Mr. G. was led by 
41 



a hound called '' Revenge," to whom his owner was 
deeply attached, and who claimed that no fox in 
Tennessee could outrun or outlast him. The pride of 
of Mr. B.'s pack was a dog called " Royalty," who had 
never been defeated in a chase ; while Mr. S. was the 
proud owner of a hound called " Leader," who was at 
the head of what he considered the best pack of 
hounds in several counties. Arrangements were made 
to start upon the expedition to exterminate Old Spot 
between sundown and dark one evening, and at the 
appointed hour the hunters, with their fifty or sixty 
hounds, assembled, and at the word of command we 
all started in quest of Old Spot. We soon arrived 
upon his favorite racing ground, and it seemed as 
though he must have intuitively known of our coming 
and had already taken a warming-up heat, for we had 
scarcely invaded his territory before up he jumped and 
challenged the formidable array of death pursuers to a 
test of skill, speed and endurance ; and as soon as the 
race commenced the volume of noise that came forth 
from the mouths of this army of fox destroyers was 
sufficient to remind one of an artillery engagement, 
and as pursued and pursuers sped over the hills and 
the voices of the hounds echoed and reechoed 
through the woods the voices of the different ones 
could be clearly recognized. Alfred and I were so 
familiar with the tactics of Old Spot that we could 
tell about the course he would pursue, and at our sug- 
gestion all the hunters dismounted, hitched their 
horses, and we built a fire and prepared to make our- 
selves comfortable during the night if the chase should 
last that long, and Alfred and I believed it would. As 
the race progressed and the voice of Ranger could be 
heard, Mr. A. said that it was not possible for the 
42 



chase to last much longer, as no fox ever lived that 
could keep on earth before the terrific speed of that 
dog. On they went, and as the voice of Revenge was 
heard, his owner requested us to listen to the pace he 
was setting, and assured us that Old Spot made a mis- 
take when he entered the race in front of him. As 
Old Spot circled round, and crossed and recrossed 
his tracks, the well-known voice of Royalty was recog- 
nized, close up to the leaders, and his owner said that 
Old Spot would be obliged to find a hole of some kind 
very soon, as no fox could stand the pace that 
Royalty could set when he became thoroughly warmed 
up, a condition to which he seemed to be fast 
approaching. When the owner of Leader heard the 
voice of his favorite dog, he poked the fire and lighted 
his pipe, and offered to bet a mule against a jack- 
knife that Old Spot would not last an hour. One of 
the hounds belonging to the pack of Mr. A. was named 
'' Old Cuff," who had a voice like a calliope, which 
could be distinctly heard above the roar of the other 
voices ; and when the dogs were fairly straightened out 
in the race, Old Cuff was a long ways behind the 
leaders and seemed to be bringing up the rear, but his 
owner said that if the chase should last all night Old 
Cuff would be found in the front ranks in the early 
morning, and so for several hours we sat around the 
fire, smoked, told stories, and listened to the great feats 
that each of these pet dogs could accomplish. Alfred 
said nothing in praise of the ability of Old Troupe and 
Flounce. Old Spot continued his usual tactics of 
circling and keeping just far enough ahead of the 
dogs to be cruelly tantalizing. About midnight a 
number of the hounds came straggling into camp. 
Old Spot, wishing to give his pursuers an enjoyable 
43 



entertainment, changed his course and ran so far from 
us that for an hour or two the dogs were entirely out 
of hearing, and during this period Old Ranger 
appeared, and when his owner saw him he said the 
fox must either be dead or in his hole, as his old, 
reliable dog would never have left him alive. Then 
in succession appeared Revenge, Royalty and Leader, 
and when they came their owners each said the chase 
was all over, that the fox had retired for the night, and 
we had better follow his example. Other dogs of less 
celebrity than these also came straggling in and made 
themselves comfortable by the fire. While Alfred 
heard these suggestions about retiring he said nothing, 
but kept up a lively thinking, and about two o'clock 
in the morning went down a little ways from the fire 
and listened, and heard the familiar voices of Old 
Troupe and Flounce in the dim distance, apparently 
heading towards us. By this time nearly all the dogs 
except Old Troupe and Flounce had abandoned the 
chase, and as Old Spot drew near to where we were 
standing Alfred called upon the owners of the other 
dogs, who had talked so loudly about their prowess, to 
" call out their dogs of high-sounding names and royal 
lineage and let them join Old Troupe and Flounce and 
be in at the death." And these gentlemen did rally 
their dogs, who once more joined in the chase, but 
they soon tired and returned to camp. Old Spot, with 
Troupe and Flounce close behind him, circled near us 
several times, and each time the rest of the several 
packs would join in the chase, only to soon return in 
apparent disgust. Old Cuff, however, proved himself 
a stayer, and although unable to keep near the leaders 
his great voice could be plainly heard a mile or so 
behind during the latter part of the chase. Finally, 
44 



Old Spot, thinking he had afforded his intending cap- 
tors sufficient amusement for one night, headed for his 
old resting place, and just as the morning sun began to 
gild the eastern horizon he appeared in sight running 
easy and fast, and about a hundred yards behind him 
were Old Troupe and Flounce running side by side, 
the clarion tones of their musical voices mingling with 
the songs of the wild birds, and thus they continued 
for a short distance, when Old Spot entered his den to 
rest and get ready for another entertainment. At the 
closing hours of the chase all but about half a dozen 
dogs had retired from the contest, and these few were 
so far behind Old Troupe and Flounce as to clearly 
show they were outclassed. The owners of these 
much-touted dogs were honest in their belief that 
their dogs were great, and able to catch any fox that 
wore fur, but the contest to which they were invited 
was essentially different from any in which they had 
ever participated and Old Spot was a different racer 
than any which their dogs had ever pursued. 

The next year I was employed by Mr. John Harding 
to break and handle some young animals he owned. 
His place was on the Cumberland River, about nine 
miles from Nashville. Near him lived Mr. David 
Magavock, who owned a large pack and I often went 
hunting with him. I told him of Troupe and Flounce 
and what great dogs they were, and as Alfred had 
married and moved away, and no one was left to hunt 
with Squire Winford's dogs I recommended them to 
him, and he purchased them and considered them the 
best dogs he ever saw. Troupe got one of his legs 
broken and was shut up in the carriage house. One 
day while he was there the dogs started a gray fox not 
far from the house, and, notwithstanding his broken 
45 



leg, Old Troupe got out and joined in the chase. The 
fox was soon caught, and one of the first dogs at the 
death was Old Troupe, who stood over the fox holding 
up his broken leg with the broken bone protruding 
through the skin, and seeing him in that condition 
Frank Magavock, a son of the owner of the dog, 
thoughtlessly drew his revolver and shot him ; and 
when I witnessed the death of that noble dog there 
was something came up in my throat, and I experi- 
enced a sorrow and grief I cannot express. 

The horses ridden upon these occasions in Tennes- 
see embrace the best and speediest that State has pro- 
duced. Tom, Hal, Clipper, Brooks, Mattie Hunter, 
Little Brown Jug, Joe Braden, Joe Bowers, Brown 
Hal, Hal Pointer, Bay Tom, Duplex, Locomotive, and 
Mountain Slasher have all participated in these hunts 
and contributed to the enjoyment of their owners. 



46 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE HAL FAMILY— KITTRELL'S HAL — GIBSON'S TOM 
HAL — LITTLE BROWN J UG — LO C OMO T IVE — 
BROWN HAL — HAL POINTER. 

THE pacing interests of Tennessee were fortu- 
nate in the quality of the horses which were 
brought to the State at an early day, from 
which sprung the great campaigners that have given 
to the State its exclusive title of the mother of the 
pacing family. Back in the fifties, Major Kittrell of 
Taylorsville, Tenn., went to Kentucky, and purchased 
a roan saddle stallion that was a natural pacer ; this 
horse became known as Kittrell's Hal, and is the 
foundation head from which has come nearly all the 
celebrated horses from that State. Other pacing and 
saddle horses were brought to the State from Ken- 
tucky about the same time ; but, as my name has been 
associated to a considerable extent with the Hal family, 
I shall confine my observations to it. Kittrell's Hal 
was a horse about 153^ hands high, very heavily 
muscled, and in the exhibitions of speed which he gave 
under the saddle at fairs and other horse shows 
proved him to be a fast, natural pacer, but he never 
was handled for speed. The facts obtainable respect- 
ing his breeding are so few and unsatisfactory as to 
render any statement concerning it unwarranted, but 
that he was a highly-bred horse there can scarcely be a 
doubt. In 1862 he was bred to a mare called Betsey 
Baker, the produce being Gibson's Tom Hal, Old 
47 



Tom Hal, or Tom Hal, Jr., as he is known in the 
registry. Betsey Baker was a mare fully one-half 
thoroughbred. Gibson's Tom Hal was speeded under 
saddle at the country fairs and spent much of his time 
before the plow and the log wagon, and was never 
hitched to a sulky. 

He was a roan horse about 15 J^ hands high, and 
one of the strongest and best muscled horses I ever 
saw; and when he died, in 1890, being then twenty- 
seven years old, his back was as straight as a two-year- 
old, and his muscular development showed no signs 
of impairment. 



48 



THE first of his get to attract the attention of the 
country was Little Brown Jug, and his history- 
is so unique I think it well deserves to be 
given here. In 1874, Mr. O. N. Fry, of Mooresville, 
Tenn., was the owner of Gibson's Tom Hal, who was 
making the season at $5 by the insurance, and if, 
when the colt was old enough to wean, it did not 
show the saddle gaits no fee whatever was charged. 
A neighbor of Mr. Fry then owned a mare named 
Lizzie, by John Netherland, a pacing-bred horse. Mr. 
Fry happened to meet the owner of Lizzie one day 
and suggested to him the advisability of breeding Liz- 
zie to Tom Hal; but the owner of Lizzie demurred, 
saying he could raise a mule, and that when the mule 
was a year old he could sell it for $50, which was 
much better than he could do raising colts. Finally, 
Mr. Fry proposed that if he would breed to Tom Hal 
he would pay him $50 for the colt when it was a year 
old, if sound and all right. This proposition was ac- 
cepted, and one day the next year the man appeared 
at Mr. Fry's place leading a colt so thin that he would 
hardly make a shadow, and in addition to apparently 
being half starved, he was covered with lice, which 
had eaten his mane and tail and nearly finished what 
little vitality was in his body. This colt was Little 
Brown Jug, which this man had brought to Mr. Fry 
pursuant to their contract, as he claimed, and de- 
manded the $50. When Mr. Fry saw the colt he re- 
fused to receive him, and told the man he did not want 
such a looking colt upon his place. The man said he 
had no money and had relied upon the promised $50 
49 



to buy necessaries for his family, and finally Mr. Fry, 
out of sympathy but under protest, took the colt and 
paid the $50. After a thorough cleaning and cleans- 
ing the colt was given plenty to eat and improved 
very rapidly. The next year Mr. Fry leased a por- 
tion of his farm to a colored man to work on shares, 
who had no horse, and in the spring that Little Brown 
Jug was two years old he was sold by Mr. Fry to this 
colored man for $75. The colored man broke him to 
harness and used him to plow the land and put in his 
crops ; and in addition to this work every Sunday his 
wife and two or three children would get upon the 
back of the colt and ride several miles to church ; and, 
in addition to all this, the colored man's son had a 
sweetheart who lived two or three miles from his 
home, and he would take this colt, after having worked 
him all day, and go across the fields to the home of 
his sweetheart, hitch him outdoors, where he would 
stand with nothing to eat, and often in the storms, 
until the early hours of the morning. This per- 
formance was repeated several times a week during 
the entire season. When fall came the colt was in a 
pitiable condition, and showed his hard usage very 
plainly. That fall the wife of the colored man was 
taken sick, and, after attending her for some time, the 
doctor refused to come any more unless Mr. Fry 
would become responsible for his bill, which he finally 
consented to do, and the doctor attended her until she 
died. The doctor's bill was $60, and seeing there was 
no other way out of the difficulty the colored man 
gave the colt to Mr. Fry and he paid the doctor the 
$60. At that time the colt could not be sold for $60, 
and Mr. Fry only allowed that amount for him be- 
cause there was nothing else for him to do. The colt 
50 



was then turned out and with rest and plenty of feed 
soon commenced to improve, and in the summer and 
fall of 1878, when the colt was three years old, Mr. Fry 
rode him to the colt shows and fairs and soon dis- 
covered that he could pace fast, and the next year 
placed him in the hands of a trainer who trained on a 
half-mile track near Lewisburg, Tenn. The rapidity 
with which he improved was simply astonishing, and 
in a few weeks that half-starved and much-abused colt 
became one of the speediest horses that had up to 
that time ever been seen in harness. I saw him at 
Nashville the following spring, and gave him a work- 
out, and I do not think I was ever behind a stronger, 
easier going horse. His conformation was the most 
remarkable of any horse ever seen upon the turf. He 
was only about fifteen hands high, a rich brown in 
color, his slim neck, small ears, large expressive eyes, 
and finely-molded head, clearly showed the thorough- 
bred blood which he had inherited ; but the most re- 
markable thing about him was his abnormal muscular 
development. His fore legs were large, flat and well 
tapered, and his hind quarters were so immense as to 
make him look like a deformity. What he was as a 
race horse we know, but what he might have been had 
he received the care and attention in his early career 
bestowed upon promising race horses in modern times 
is a matter of conjecture. It is claimed by reliable 
people that he paced a trial quarter on a poor half- 
mile track the first season he was handled in thirty 
seconds, and that the next year he paced a half mile to 
a high-wheeled sulky in one minute, and many people 
still believe him to have been possessed of as much 
natural speed as any horse that ever lived, and I am 
not prepared to say but what this belief is well founded. 
51 



ANOTHER son of Tom Hal, which, though little 
known to the outside world, was, as many believe, 
at least equally as fast as any of his get, was the 
gray stallion Locomotive. This horse also has a pecu- 
liar history. His dam was by a horse called Rock, about 
half thoroughbred and quite a celebrated quarter horse. 
Locomotive was bred, and all his life owned, in the 
rural districts of Tennessee, and was never to my 
knowledge hitched to a sulky nor conditioned for 
racing. He was a very large, powerful horse, fully 
15^ hands high, and would weigh about 1,300 pounds, 
and his appearance more resembled that of a truck 
horse than that of an ideal racer. If he was ever used 
in harness it was before the plow, the log wagon, or 
doing some other heavy work. He was in the stud 
for many years and frequently exhibited at the differ- 
ent horse shows under saddle, and many gentlemen 
now living in Marshall and Maury counties, Tennessee, 
who have seen him at these exhibitions, declare they 
have seen him pace a quarter of a mile under saddle 
in thirty seconds. I have often seen him at these ex- 
hibitions, but never held a watch on him ; but this I 
do know, that he was one of the most rapid-gaited and 
powerful-going horses I ever saw, and seemed to have 
as much natural speed as any of his distinguished 
half brothers, and it is to be regretted that he did not 
appear at a time when the pacing gait was appreciated, 
and his speed ability properly developed. As a sad 
illustration of the neglect to which this grand horse 
was subjected, I will cite the following incident : In 
1878 (I think that was the year, but am not entirely 
52 



certain) a fair was held at the old fair ground near 
Columbia, at which a race was arranged between Loco- 
motive under saddle and old Joe Bowers in harness. 
Near the track was a creek with quite a volume of water. 
Two heats of the race were paced in the evening, each 
horse winning one heat. After each heat the rider and 
owner of Locomotive rode him into the creek to cool 
him out. The water was up to about the horse's side, 
and he cooled him out by splashing the water over his 
heated body, and, as though this treatment was not suffi- 
cient to ruin him, that evening he was fed twenty-two 
ears of green corn for his evening's feed. It is a well 
authenticated fact that the horse ate fourteen ears 
of this corn, and the result was, what might have been 
expected, the next morning he was not in racing con- 
dition, and his racing days were practically over. Thus 
ended the racing career of a horse that would have 
added additional lustre to the name of his distinguished 
sire had he been given the opportunity to demonstrate 
the ability with which he was so richly endowed. 



53 



BROWN HAL, a full brother to Little Brown Jug, 
was purchased by Major Campbell Brown and 
Captain M. C. Campbell when he was three years 
old, and, by reason of the brilliant achievements of 
Little Brown Jug, it was but natural to expect that his 
full brother would prove to be a race horse of a high 
order. His early training clearly indicated that this 
expectation would be realized. In looks and conforma- 
tion there is scarcely any resemblance between Brown 
Hal and Little Brown Jug. Brown Hal has a long 
body and rather a rangy conformation. He is about 
1^.2^2 hands high, and wil Iweigh about i,ioo pounds. 
One of the peculiarities of the Hal family is that they 
are rather slow in developing speed, and it is rather 
uncommon to find a young colt of this family show- 
ing a fast gait ; but from the time Brown Hal com- 
menced to be used under the saddle, when he was two 
years old, he could pace fast ; and when he was pur- 
chased by Messrs. Brown and Campbell he was recog- 
nized as a very promising colt. At that time Mr. 
John Bostwick, an experienced trainer, was handling the 
horses in Major Brown's stable, and he gave him his 
first education in speeding in harness. At one time it 
was thought he could be converted to the trotting gait, 
and Mr. Bostwick experimented with him the first 
season he handled him in an attempt to make a fast 
trotter of him. While this experiment was in prog- 
ress I saw him trot a mile in 2.21, and I believe that 
was about as fast as he ever trotted. He was a pure- 
gaited natural pacer, and the weight required to make 
him trot was so great it became evident that if he suc- 
54 



O 
!2; 




ceeded in making a great race horse it would be as a 
pacer, and all further attempts to make a trotting race 
horse of him were abandoned. He was very fast in 
the pacing gait from the time he was first handled 
at that gait ; and the first year he was taken North 
and started in the pacing races I do not think he lost 
a race, and, as I remember, it was that year, or the 
next, that Mr. Bostwick gave him a record of 2.13. 
On Major Brown's place were several large paddocks 
enclosed by high picket fences, where stallions were 
turned when not in training ; and the next winter 
after Brown Hal made this record he was running in 
one of these paddocks, and in an adjoining paddock 
was another stallion. These two stallions commenced 
fighting through the fence separating them, when 
Brown Hal reared and caught one of his fore legs 
between the pickets, and this accident sprained a 
tendon of that leg so seriously that he never fully re- 
covered from it. Brown Hal was placed in my hands 
to train early in the season of 1889, and, although he 
was in the stud, I gave him a long and careful prepara- 
tion ; but from the time I first commenced to work 
him I was fearful of that injured leg, and had my 
doubts about his being able to stand the strain incident 
to training and campaigning. I went along very slow 
and careful with him, and did not attempt to give him 
any fast work for several months after I commenced 
with him, as I was satisfied that if his leg would only 
stand the hardships, and I could get him in proper 
condition, he had sufficient speed to wipe out all 
pacing records and defeat any horse then upon the turf. 
Along in June I had him in good racing condition, 
and as his ailing leg still stood the work I think he 
was then the fastest horse I ever saw. In one of his 
55 



workouts that season, before leaving for the North, I 
drove him to a high-wheeled Toomy cart a quarter of a 
mile in 28^ seconds ; but the hard work necessary to 
properly prepare him for the coming campaign finally 
began to affect that leg, and it was with many misgiv- 
ings that I concluded to start him in the free-for-all 
pace at Cleveland, in which he had been entered, as 
he had already commenced to go lame in the fast 
workouts I was giving him. But it was finally con- 
cluded that he would probably never be in better 
condition to go a fast race than he then was, and under 
all the circumstances we had better start him. In that 
race were entered several of the fastest pacers then in 
training, among them being Roy Wilkes, whom I knew 
to be a dangerous competitor, fori had on several occa- 
sions met and defeated him with Duplex. In the 
warming-up heat before the race, Brown Hal showed con- 
siderable lameness. At the commencement of that race 
the record of 2.13 held by Brown Hal was the pacing 
stallion race record, but in the first heat of that race, 
which was won by Roy Wilkes, the record was reduced 
to 2.12^, and for a short period Roy Wilkes was the 
king of pacing stallions. This heat satisfied me that 
with Brown Hal's lameness increasing all the time, the 
race would be a hard one, but I still thought that, if 
he did not give out entirely, I could win the race. We 
got a good start in the second heat and I called upon 
Brown Hal for his best effort and he did not disappoint 
me and won the heat in 2.12^, and thereby again 
became king of this division. But this heat seriously 
affected his leg and the next heat was won by Roy 
Wilkes in slower time. I rushed Brown Hal for the 
fourth heat, and, notwithstanding his lameness kept 
increasing, he won the heat. When the horses came 
56 



out for the fifth heat, Brown Hal was so lame that 
he could scarcely touch the foot of his injured leg 
to the ground, and when we were sent away I could 
hardly get him to pace at all, and during the first few 
rods he could not pace a 2.30 gait, and before the 
eighth of the mile pole was reached he broke, and 
before I could get him settled all the horses, with Roy 
Wilkes in the lead, were at least 100 yards ahead of 
me at the first quarter ; but about this time I suc- 
ceeded in getting Brown Hal on his stride, and he 
seemed to be inspired with a determination to win that 
heat, even if he had but three good legs and his cour- 
age with which to make the effort, and he seemed to 
fairly fly in pursuit of the leaders. I soon over- 
took and passed the rear horses, but Roy Wilkes still 
maintained his lead until near the draw gate, when I 
came up to him and saw he was so tired that he was 
reeling and had had about enough. Brown Hal was 
also in about the same condition and both horses 
showed signs of distress. When within a few feet of 
the wire I took a strong hold on Brown Hal, so as to 
steady him, then shook him up and applied the whip 
once or twice, to which he gamely responded and 
forged ahead of his rival and won the heat by a head. 
While there is no means of knowing exactly how fast 
Brown Hal paced that heat from the first quarter, I 
believe he must have paced the middle half of the 
mile in about one minute ; and thus ended what was, 
everything considered, the most remarkable race in 
which I ever participated. But the great effort of 
Brown Hal in his crippled condition put a final veto 
on his further racing that season, and I shipped him 
home, this proving the last race he ever paced. In 
1890 I again prepared him for the campaign and he 
57 



seemed to be faster than ever. I shipped my stable, 
including Brown Hal, to Pittsburg, and in the work- 
outs I gave him there, he went so lame that I con- 
cluded it was no use trying to race him any more, and 
shipped him home, and he has never been conditioned 
for racing since then. He is now owned by Captain 
M. C. Campbell of Spring Hill, Tenn., where he will 
undoubtedly spend the balance of his life. He had all 
the elements of a great race horse, viz : speed, game- 
ness and endurance, and these essential elements he 
transmits to his get in a remarkable degree. Nearly 
twenty years ago, in a communication I made to one 
of the turf journals, I prophesied that a horse would 
go a mile in harness in two minutes, and that the first 
horse to accomplish that feat would be a pacing horse 
and a member of the Hal family ; and I rejoice 
to know that I have lived long enough to see that 
prophecy fulfilled, and that the horse that fulfilled my 
expectations was a distinguished son of Brown Hal. 



58 




o 



X 



HAL POINTER was foaled in 1884, and was bred 
by Captain Henry Pointer of Spring Hill,Tenn. 
He was sired by Old Tom Hal and his dam was 
the grand old mare Sweepstakes, by Knight's Snow 
Heels, dam of Star Pointer 1.59^. As a two- and three- 
year-old he was used under saddle, and in 1888 it was 
claimed he could show a 2.40 gait at the pace under 
saddle, — a claim he could hardly justify. He is a bay 
gelding with one white ankle in front and one behind 
and has a small star. When matured he was a horse 
of grand conformation, standing about 15^ hands high 
and weighing about 1,100 pounds in ordinary flesh. His 
legs were large and well shaped, and when in training 
his muscles stood out like those of a trained athlete. 
His beautiful and intelligent head plainly showed his 
sixty or more per cent, of thoroughbred blood that 
coursed through his veins. In June, 1888, Mr. Wal- 
ter Steele of Columbia, Tenn., purchased him and 
placed him in my stable to be trained. He had then 
been broken to harness, but it cannot be said that he 
was very handy at that way of going. He had been 
used so much under saddle that his gaits were very 
badly mixed. He would pace a little and single foot 
a great deal. I experimented some time with him 
trying to make him go square and finally shod him 
with a twelve-ounce shoe in front and added a six- 
ounce toe weight to each front foot ; this seemed to 
improve him, and he would go square in front ; but. 
still he seemed to lack something, and to not be en- 
tirely balanced; finally, I put on long shoes behind, 
that is, shoes that projected an inch or more beyond 
59 



his heels, and this balanced him and he would pace 
square. I worked with him about a month before I 
went North with my racing stable. The first mile I 
drove him it took him three minutes and thirteen 
seconds to make the circuit, but before I went away 
he showed me a mile in 2.30. He was then turned 
out and not taken up again until about September ist. 
During my absence he was started in a race at the 
Columbia Fair in September, in which he took a record 
of 2.29)^. When I returned that fall, I commenced 
working him again and kept taking the weight off his 
front feet and he kept increasing his speed. I finally 
got him so he did not require any extra weight, and 
during his races he generally wore a five-ounce shoe in 
front and a six-ounce shoe behind. Before I turned 
him out that fall he showed me a mile over my old 
half-mile track in 2.17, and I became satisfied that I 
had a first-class race horse if nothing happened. His 
hind legs always had rather a curby look, and when 
he paced this good mile that fall he developed a curb 
on one leg that caused me much anxiety ; but I 
blistered it and turned him out and he never again 
showed any signs of weakness in it. I commenced 
work with him early the next spring and he improved 
so rapidly that I was more than ever convinced that 
he was one of the coming turf sensations and I pur- 
chased a half interest in him. I concluded to start 
him first in the 2.30 class at Cleveland that year, and, 
as he had never been on a mile track, I took him and 
my other horses there some time before the meeting, 
that he might get used to the track and surroundings. 
His front feet were always flat and of a tender and 
delicate formation. The track at Cleveland was very 
hard and in the work I gave him before the meeting 
60 



commenced his front feet became sore, a condition 
which continued during the whole of that season. I 
shod him with bar shoes and pads, which greatly helped 
to break the concussion ; but still in jog work he 
would nod, and a stranger would think him unable to 
stand the hardships of a hotly-contested race ; but as 
soon as the excitement of a race was on he seemed to 
forget all about his tender feet, and his pace was as 
even and true as any horse ever seen in a race. I won 
the race at Cleveland and moved down through the 
Grand Circuit and started him at every meeting ; and 
after that I went to St. Louis, Terre Haute and other 
places and he won every race in which he was started 
that year, except at Rochester. 

Everything considered, Hal Pointer was the greatest 
race horse I have ever driven. I always drove him 
with an open bridle, and as soon as he had had a little 
experience he seemed to know how to rate his speed 
just as well as I did ; and also that the purse belonged 
to the horse that first passed under the wire rather 
than the one that reached the quarter or half-mile pole 
in advance of the field, and when in the lead he 
would watch the attempts of a rival to pass him with 
the same degree of interest as his driver, and was ever 
on the alert to prevent another horse from getting 
dangerously close. This characteristic was well illus- 
trated in the race at Terre Haute, in the fall of 1889, 
in which was the pacer B. B. who had been defeating 
everything he had met that season, and many pre- 
dicted that when these two horses met, Hal Pointer 
would taste the bitter pangs of defeat. In one of the 
heats of that race I had passed B. B. in the stretch 
and, expecting him to make a rush near the wire, was 
watching him and so was Pointer ; and after the race 
61 



was over, the driver of B. B. said he " could stand it to 
have me watching him, but when he saw Hal Pointer 
with one ear laid down also watching him he saw it 
was no use and that he could not steal a march on 
him, and so abandoned the attempt." He retired that 
fall with a record of 2.09^, which made him a candi- 
date for the free-for-all class the next season. A long 
run barefooted that winter cured the soreness in his 
feet and he was in good condition the next spring to 
commence his training. I anticipated a hard cam- 
paign for him in 1890 and carefully prepared him for 
it. I started him first at Pittsburg that season and had 
no trouble in winning at that meeting; but at Cleve- 
land, which is regarded as the great storm center of 
the Grand Circuit, I knew I should meet a different 
antagonist than I had yet encountered. Adonis was 
at that time the pride of California's race goers and, 
with the experienced and accomplished Hickok behind 
him, he had been campaigning through the minor cir- 
cuits without meeting defeat, and all horsemen 
expected that when he and Pointer met there would 
be a battle royal, and those who saw the race were not 
disappointed. There were a number of starters in the 
race, but, as expected, the contest for first place was 
between Pointer and Adonis. In the first heat Adonis 
led until the last quarter was reached, when I, having 
succeeded in passing the other horses, moved up so 
that as we entered the stretch Pointer's head was upon 
the wheel of Adonis, both going true and very fast, 
Pointer gaining at every stride, and when within 
about fifty feet of the wire he was fully a neck in the 
lead, without any known cause, he left his feet and 
passed under the wire on a run, thus giving the heat to 
Adonis ; but this mishap made no difference in the 

63 



outcome of the race, as he won the next three heats. 
We had several other contests during the Grand Cir- 
cuit meetings, but Adonis did not succeed in winning 
one of the races. The defeat of Adonis greatly 
agitated the horsemen and sporting element of Cali- 
fornia, and the next year they sent over the fast and 
almost unbeaten Yolo Maid to take the measure of the 
great son of Tom Hal. Our first meeting was at 
Cleveland, and the known speed and race-horse quali- 
ties of these two contestants caused excitement to run 
high. Yolo Maid could show a great burst of speed 
and was very fast in getting away, and in every case 
would lead Pointer to the first quarter by many yards ; 
but I never drove Hal Pointer in any race where if he 
could get his nose to the wheel of the sulky of the 
other horse at the head of the stretch he could not 
beat him to the wire, and Yolo Maid proved no excep- 
tion to this rule. She would rush away at a two- 
minute gait for the first quarter, but Pointer saved his 
fast rush for the home stretch and in his races often 
paced the last quarter in thirty seconds ; and, like 
Adonis, Yolo Maid returned to California without 
having won a single race from Pointer, although she 
attempted to do so all through the Grand Circuit. 
But the Californians did not give up. I started Hal 
Pointer that season (1891) in July, and raced him the 
whole season over all kinds of tracks, some of which 
were very hard and his feet became a little tender, so 
much so, that he would not fully extend himself on a 
hard track ; and while in this condition. Direct, who 
had been brought from California early in the 
season and given an easy campaign, was especially 
prepared to try and wrest the crown from Hal Pointer. 
We first met at Terre Haute in October, where, after 
63 



a very hot contest, Hal Pointer won. Our next meet- 
ing was at Nashville, where the track was hard, and 
Direct won. We met a few days later at the then new 
kite-shaped track at Columbia, Tenn., and the track 
was so hard that I could not get Pointer to do himself 
justice, and he again suffered defeat ; but to accom- 
plish this feat, he compelled Direct to pace the three 
fastest heats that had up to that time ever been made 
in harness. 

The next season, when the horses were more nearly 
on an equality, in a number of races Hal Pointer 
clearly demonstrated his superiority as a race horse, 
and defeated Direct every time they met. I cam- 
paigned him during 1893, 1894 and 1895. In the free- 
for-all pace at Philadelphia, in 1894, he was taken sick 
during the race with an ailment that baffled all veter- 
inary skill to diagnose. He had never been sick 
before and showed no signs of illness until in the race. 
Both he and Yolo Maid were taken sick in the same 
heat with the same ailment, which gave rise to a sus- 
picion of foul play on the part of some one. But 
whatever it was, he never recovered from it. I win- 
tered him with the rest of the Hamlin stable in Cali- 
fornia during the winter of 1894 and 1895, and started 
him in several races in 1895 ; but he still showed the 
effects of that sickness ; and we gave up campaigning 
him. After his race at Cleveland, in 1890, Mr. Steele 
and myself sold him to Mr. Harry Hamlin of Village 
Farm ; but he continued in my stable until I went to 
Village Farm in 1892, and was after that in that stable 
and was driven by me as long as he continued to race 
through the Grand Circuit. I do not believe any 
horse ever lived that possessed more racing sense, 
gameness, and endurance than did this grand horse. 
64 



I have often seen him, after a hard-fought five-heat 
race, being cooled out when another race would be 
called on, and he would commence to get restless and 
uneasy and show by every action that he wanted to 
get back to the track and take a hand in the excite- 
ment. 

Hal Pointer was a difficult horse to make score 
fast, and was always slow in starting away. He did 
not seem to be imbued with the necessity of winning 
the heat until the middle or latter part of the mile had 
been reached, and then he would bend all his mighty 
energies in an endeavor to first reach the wire, and 
very few horses were ever able to withstand his 
terrific rush. He never required, and would not 
endure, punishment. Once when I was giving him a 
workout he did something I did not like and I struck 
him with the whip twice, and, in spite of everything I 
could do, he ran three miles before I could stop him ; 
I never tried it again, and in all the races I ever drove 
him I never did anything more than to carry the whip 
over him, and when I wanted some extra speed I 
would shake it at him. I gave him a record of 2.04^, 
which was the world's record at that time. 

It is a lamentable fact that many good horses after 
their days of usefulness are over, and they are no longer 
able to earn money for their owners, are, through 
avarice or want of sympathy, either killed or compelled 
to eke out a miserable existence doing drudgery for 
strangers, when, by reason of their past services, they 
should be tenderly cared for by those whom they have 
faithfully served. I am glad to know that no hard- 
ships of this kind are in store for grand old Hal 
Pointer. I am giving him just enough light road work 
for exercise, driving back and forth from Village Farm 
65 



to the Jewett covered track. I generally drive him 
over to the hotel at East Aurora and hitch him under 
a shed when I go to lunch. He is very fond of carrots, 
and I always intend to put three in my pocket and 
feed him two before I go to lunch and the other when 
I am ready to start back. If I have the carrots for 
him, he seems perfectly happy and will be cheerful all 
the rest of the day ; but if I happen to forget them, he is 
mad and acts as ill-natured as does a smoker when de- 
prived of his after-dinner cigar. The following article, 
clipped from the columns of a recent number of the 
" Youth's Companion," very aptly illustrates different 
dispositions respecting the fate of a faithful horse 
after his days of usefulness are over : 

" It was a mournful little procession which filed out 
of the barn and took its way along the lane towards 
the pasture. First came Azariah, with the old musket. 
Then followed Thad, leading a horse, tall, gaunt and 
aged ; and in the rear, with a shovel over his shoulder, 
plodded old Benjamin Heminway, the owner of the 
farm. 

" No one said anything, but all three of the men 
glanced furtively at the house, and Thad carefully 
steered old Prince around some outcropping ledges 
where his shoes would have been likely to make 
a noise. When they reached the pasture they 
halted. 

" 'I s'pose we might's well pull his shoes off,' sug- 
gested Azariah. 

" 'Yes,' said Thad. 'Three of 'em's nearly new and 
the other ain't much worn. I brought the hammer 
along.' 

'• He handed it to his brother, who took it and began 
to pry off the old horse's shoes. 
66 



** While the group was occupied with this task a voice 
broke in upon them. A little old lady had come 
quietly up the lane, and now stood nervously twisting 
her apron and regarding them with reproachful eyes. 
The men dropped the hammer and the two shoes they 
had removed, and stood silent and shamefaced. 

" ' Father,' said the old lady, laying her hand on her 
husband's arm, 'you know how I've felt about this all 
along. The more I think of it the wickeder it seems. 
I just can't stand it !' 

" ' There, now, mother, don't take it so hard. It 
ain't pleasant, I know, but what's a body goin' to do ? 
He's past any kind o' work, an' it costs something 
to keep him. Besides, the boys are all the time com- 
plainin'.' 

"'Well,' broke in Thad, 'we have to cut up all his 
fodder an' take milk to him every day, and he's for- 
ever getting into the corn-field or the garden.' 

" ' Thaddy, it ain't what he is now but what he's been 
that I'm thinking about,' said the boy's mother. 
' You don't remember, as I do, how he worked here 
on the farm year after year, an' how willin* and gentle 
he always was. You don't think of the time when 
your father had the mail contract, and old Prince 
traveled his forty miles a day, week in and week out, 
summer an' winter ; or the day when the limb fell from 
the tree on the mountain road, and knocked your 
father senseless in the bottom of the sleigh. How 
long would he have lived in that cold, or where would 
you or any of us be, if Prince hadn't brought him home ?' 

" Thad was idly kicking a hole in the sod with the 
toe of his heavy boot, and Azanah shifted the musket 
uneasily from his shoulder to the ground. The old 
lady went on : 

67 



" 'Father, old Prince has done his share to help us pay 
for the farm. He wouldn't owe us anything for board 
if he lived fifty years longer, but if he's got to be killed 
because you think we can't afford to keep him, I've 
got something to say. Here's eighteen dollars. It's 
my butter money, an' I've been savin' it to carpet the 
parlor with, but never mind. It'll pay for Prince's keep 
while it lasts, and there'll be more when that's gone.* 

^'A crimson flush crept into the old man's sunburned 
face, ' Stop, mother, stop !' he said. ' I'm a selfish 
brute, an' I'm ashamed of myself, but I ain't so mean 
as that ! Old Prince has earned the right to fodder 
and good care the rest of his life, as you say, an' he 
shall have it if he lives to be a hundred ! Thad, Az'- 
riah, you go put him into the four-acre clover lot ; an' 
if either of you ever pester me again 'bout killin' him, 
I'll take one o' them new tug straps an' make you 
dance livelier'n Prince ever did when he was a four- 
year-old.' " 



68 



CHAPTER VII. 

STRANGE INCIDENT IN HORSE TRAINING— THE TEN- 
NESSEE PACING-BRED PACER. 

I ONCE had a very remarkable incident in horse train- 
ing occur. A gentleman by the name of Brown, 
living near Lynnville, Tenn., owned the bay mare 
Ella Brown. About the first of March, 1890, he sent her 
to me to be trained. She had the reputation of being 
quite speedy and much was expected of her. I worked 
faithfully with her from the time she was first brought 
to me until about the first of June, and the best I 
could do with her was to drive her a mile in about 
2.45 ; and as that was not fast enough to compete with 
horses she would have to meet, I wrote Mr. Brown 
that I did not think she had speed enough to make a 
first-class race horse, and I would not advise him to 
spend any more money on her, and that he had 
better come and take her home, and if he would let me 
know when he would come I would save her and work 
her in his presence. He notified me of the time he 
would call, and at the appointed time he came, and I had 
her hitched up, shod, harnessed and hitched in exactly 
the same way she had always been during the several 
months I had been training her. After warming her 
up I commenced to show her speed to Mr. Brown. She 
seemed to take in the situation at once and instead of 
pacing along at a 2.45 gait, as she had always done 
before, she just let herself out and paced a quarter at 
a 2.20 gait ; and when she showed this burst of speed 
69 



I was so astonished that I nearly fell out of the sulky, 
and Mr. Brown returned home without her. I am not 
much of a believer in telopathy, but it has always 
seemed to me that in some way she knew that if she 
did not make a satisfactory showing that morning she 
would probably spend her life working on the farm 
instead of the glamor of the race track. She kept 
improving and finally took a record of 2.11^, and was 
a successful race mare. 

While residing in Tennessee I campaigned quite a 
large number of horses, other than those I have men- 
tioned, through the Northern Circuit, including Joe 
Rhea, Annie W., McCurdy's Hambletonian, McEwen, 
Bay Tom, Joe Bowers, Jr., Joe Braden, Fred S. Wilkes, 
Duplex and many others, and did fairly well with 
them ; but the limits of this book will not allow any 
attempt at a description of the races in which they 
started. 

The Hal family of pacers are preeminently the 
great pacing-bred pacers of America. So far as I 
have any knowledge upon the subject, I do not know 
of more than a dozen of the get of Tom Hal that have 
been conditioned and trained for racing, and of this 
number I do not know of one that could not beat 2.30. 
Of those that were trained I have already mentioned 
Little Brown Jug, Brown Hal and Hal Pointer, and I 
firmly believe that if I now had them and they were 
in their prime and in perfect condition, I could drive 
each one of these a mile in two minutes ; and it is 
possible that Locomotive could be added to this list, 
but his speed was not sufficiently developed to warrant 
me in making the statement. Of the daughters of Old 
Tom Hal I only know of two that were ever trained. 
One was a roan mare called Sky Blue, that with a few 
70 



days* training paced a mile on a half-mile track in 
2.24 ; and the other, Bessie Hal, dam of Direct Hal, that 
I trained a few weeks, and she paced a mile in 2.12. 
What her ability would be if fully developed I cannot 
say, as an accident to one of her feet compelled me to 
cease her training before the measure of her speed had 
been ascertained. How many others of the get of 
Old Tom Hal that would have been sensational turf 
performers had they been trained and given the oppor- 
tunity the racing world will never know, as they spent 
their lives at the plow and doing the drudgery of the 
farm, and their possible brilliant achievements lie 
buried beneath the dust that filled the eyes of a prej- 
udiced and unappreciative public. Many people not 
familiar with the form and beauty of the Tennessee 
pacing-bred pacer have a wrong impression respecting 
the conformation and qualities of that horse. From 
what they have read, and been educated to believe, the 
pacing-bred pacer is a horse carrying his head low, 
with a steep rump, a ewe neck, crooked legs, and 
sleepy-looking head, with no life or ambition except 
what is injected into him by a vigorous application of 
the whip ; whereas, the Tennessee pacer is a horse of 
beautiful form and finish, with a head as intelligent 
and showing as much fire and ambition as that of any 
horse that ever looked through a bridle ; and in all 
the qualities that go to make up an ideal race or 
driving horse, they compare favorably with those of 
any breed with which I am familiar. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

BELLE HAMLIN — DOUBLE -TEAM RECORDS — GLOBE — 
HONEST GEORGE — JUSTINA — NIGHTINGALE. 

EARLY in the spring of 1891, I made an arrange- 
ment with Messrs. C. J. and Harry Hamlin, 
proprietors of Village Farm, to drive their 
stable of racing horses that season. I shipped the 
stable I had been training in Tennessee that spring 
North in July, and the horses I was to drive for the 
Messrs. Hamlin were shipped to me after I got North, 
and, combined with what I had, made quite a large 
stable. Among those I campaigned that year belong- 
ing to the Messrs. Hamlin were the trotters Belle 
Hamlin, Justina, Globe and Nightingale, and the 
pacers Hal Pointer, Moonstone and Glendennis. I 
used Belle Hamlin in double harness, giving exhibi- 
tions at most of the large race meetings. She was a 
very handsome bay mare, about 15^ hands high, very 
smooth and stylish, and her impressive way of going 
made her a very attractive race horse. Her tempera- 
ment was pleasant, and she possessed about as many 
of the elements that go to make an ideal driving 
horse as is ever seen. Without any exception she was 
the best pole animal I ever saw. Her mouth was 
neither too hard nor too soft. She had plenty of life and 
spirit, but was perfectly tractable and easily governed, 
and could always be relied upon to do her share and a 
little more when driven with another horse. This 
statement is proven by the following record : Her 
72 



own record is 2.12^, yet hitched with Globe, whose 
record is 2.14^, they trotted a mile in 2.12. Hitched 
with Honest George, whose record is 2.14^^, they 
trotted a mile in 2.121^. Hitched with Justina, whose 
record is 2.20, they trotted a mile in 2.13. Hitched 
with Globe and Justina, the three abreast trotted a 
mile in 2.14. Speeding- in double harness will prob- 
ably always be more or less popular with the owners 
of horses, as well as race goers ; but one effort in driv- 
ing three horses abreast satisfied all the ambition I 
had in that direction, and I never care to indulge in 
any more sport of that character. 

I regard the driving of Belle Hamlin, Justina, and 
Globe abreast a mile in 2.14 as the greatest feat I 
have ever accomplished as a reinsman. No one who 
has not tried the experiment can appreciate the diffi- 
culty he will encounter before the end of the mile is 
reached. Any horse going at that rate of speed will 
require the expenditure of much strength to steady 
him, and when three are hitched together the amount 
of this strength can be multiplied by more than three, 
because they are racing with each other, and the 
ambition of each to defeat the other two causes them 
to exert their utmost strength, and if one or more of 
them break, it is impossible to steady and settle them. 

When driving these horses this trial, I was fortunate 
in keeping them all on their feet, owing to which they 
were able to make that record. 



73 



WHEN Nightingale was placed in my hands, she 
did not promise to be the great race mare she 
afterwards became. Her gait was awkward and 
rough and her feet in bad shape. She had run away 
once or twice, which affected her disposition ; and when 
I commenced with her she could not trot a mile in 2.20, 
and to go anything like that fast seemed to be a labored 
effort for her. I soon discovered that she was not 
shod according to my ideas of shoeing, and after I had 
shod her as I thought she should be, she commenced 
to improve in her speed and, by kindness and patience, 
she finally got over her cranky notions. She was 
strong and game, but her speed was more the result of 
patience and education than of a natural gift. I 
started her in a great many races and defeated nearly 
everything in her different classes. The most impor- 
tant race in which I started her, in 189 1, was for a 
$10,000 purse for 2.20 trotters at Hartford, in which 
were Little Albert, Abbie V. Reilman, Prodigal, Miss 
Alice, and Frank F. As a test of speed, gameness 
and endurance, this race will, I think, go down in turf 
history as one of the most remarkable ever trotted. 
It took nine heats to determine the winner, which were 
trotted in 2.17^, 2.1854^, 2.18, 2.19^, 2.i8j^, 2.21^, 
2.2 1 J^, 2.21, and 2.221^. Nightingale won the sixth, 
eighth and ninth heats and trotted a dead heat with 
Little Albert in the fourth heat. Her best race in 
1892 was at Chillicothe, Ohio, in the 2.13 class. In 
that race she defeated- Little Albert, Ryland T. 
Charleston, and Lakewood Prince. This was a six- 
heat race, Nightingale winning the third, fifth and 
74 



I, 



sixth heats In 2.12, 2.14}4, and 2.14. One of her best 
races in 1893 was the Consolation Race at Buffalo, for 
a purse of $7,000, in which she met and defeated the 
black mare Nightingale, the bay mare Alix, and the 
bay gelding Greenleaf. It took seven heats to decide 
this contest, the time being 2.121^, 2.12, 2.12^, 
2.13^, 2.143^, 2.141^, and 2.18, Nightingale winning 
the fourth, sixth and seventh heats. 

The stallion Greenlander had justly acquired the 
reputation of being one of the speediest, long-distance 
race horses that had been upon the turf for many 
years, and as Nightingale was an aspirant for first 
place as a two-mile performer, arrangements were 
made to bring these two contestants together. They 
met at the Grand Circuit Meeting at Buffalo, August 
9, 1894. Nightingale won the first heat in 2.36^, 
Greenlander was drawn after this heat and Nightingale 
won the race. Her time in the first heat of this race 
is the World's race record for two miles, but Green- 
lander holds the trial record for that distance. 

At Fresno, Cal., on February i, 1895, she defeated 
Azote and Klamath by winning the first, third and 
fourth heats in 2.14, 2.14, and 2.13^. This race was 
trotted in the mud, when the track was several seconds 
slow, and was a severe test of gameness and endur- 
ance. She won the 2.10 class at Fort Wayne in the 
fall of 1895, in straight heats, in 2.10^, 2.10, and 2.10. 
No race ever seemed too long for her and she would 
trot the third, fourth or fifth heat with the same ease 
as the first. In October, 1895, I started her at Terre 
Haute against Onoqua, Dandy Jim, and David B. 
Nightingale won the third, fourth and fifth heats in 
2.08, 2.10, and 2.09^. She also won the same year 
at Louisville ; and at Lexington, in October of that 
75 



year, , in the 2.09 class, she defeated Lockheart, 
David B., and Lesa Wilkes, in straight heats, in 2.11^, 
2.11^, and 2.i2j^. Before her racing days were over 
she became one of the most beautiful-gaited and best 
trotting race horses I have ever had anything to do 
with. I do not think her record was the full measure 
of her speed, as she constantly improved from the 
time I took her until she died. That she was a mare 
of great speed, gameness and endurance is evidenced 
by the above record, and the further fact that I gave 
her a three-mile record of 6.55^, which I believe is the 
world's record for that distance. She was a very 
smooth and stylish chestnut mare, about iS}i hands 
high, and would weigh about 1,050 lbs. 



76 



CHAPTER IX. 

LEAVING TENNESSEE FOR VILLAGE FARM — NEW FIELD 
VERY LARGE — GET OF CHIMES AND MAMBRINO 
KING — FIRST PNEUMATIC SULKY USED IN GRAND 
CIRCUIT — PURCHASE OF ROBERTJ. — HIS GREAT 
RACE WITH JOE PATCHEN — USING SHEEP TO 
DRY RACE TRACK — RECORD OF ROBERTJ. 

DURING the season of i89i,the Messrs. Hamlin 
offered very tempting inducements for me to 
move to Buffalo and assume the management 
of the speed department of Village Farm, but I hesi- 
tated long before thinking favorably of the proposi- 
tion, as both my wife and myself were deeply attached 
to our home and friends in Tennessee, and to sever 
our relations with a people who had always treated us 
with a kindness which we can never forget was no easy 
matter; but the offer was so generous that I could not 
afford to disregard it, and late in the fall concluded to 
accept their proposition. As soon as my friends in 
Tennessee became aware of my intention they offered 
all kinds of inducements for me to remain in Tennessee 
and suggested objections of a very discouraging nature 
to my contemplated action. Among them was that 
Mr. C. J. Hamlin was a very exacting man, and one 
that scarcely any one was able to please in handling 
his horses. While my acquaintance with him at that 
time was very limited, I knew him well enough to know 
that he was a thorough horseman and business man, 
and I did not believe that I or any one need have any 
77 



trouble with him if they did what was right ; and so, 
against the protests, but with the good will, of my Ten- 
nessee friends, I moved to Buffalo with my family in 
February, 1892, under a five years' contract with the 
Messrs. Hamlin, and have been here with them ever 
since, and during all this time our relations have been 
most pleasant and agreeable. 

The new field upon which I entered when I came to 
Village Farm is so extensive, the horses I have trained 
and the races in which I have driven are so numerous, 
that I can do nothing more than mention a few of the 
most important horses and events with which I have 
had to do. This statement will be appreciated when it 
is considered that nearly one hundred colts are foaled 
at this farm every year, which require training when 
old enough, and that during the nine years I have been 
at Village Farm I have driven on an average in more 
than one hundred races each year. The horses with 
which I have had most to do since coming here have 
been the get of Mambrino King and Chimes, and they 
are certainly two very remarkable families of horses. 
Mambrino King was the king of show horses, and his 
get generally possess the stylish conformation of their 
sire, and no family of horses ever seen upon the turf 
possess more gameness and endurance than they do. 
I consider the cross of Mambrino King and Chimes to 
be the acme of American trotting-horse breeding. I 
am very fond of the get of Chimes, especially those 
out of mares by Mambrino King. They possess some 
characteristics peculiar to themselves, and which I have 
never known in any other family of horses I have 
handled ; they nearly all amble when first broken, 
and, unlike any other horses I have ever seen, 
weighting them in front does no good, and will 
78 



not make them go square. I generally shoe them 
light and when they commence to amble often rush 
them to a break, and when settled from the break they 
will trot or pace square and improve in their speed 
very rapidly. 

Soon after the bicycle craze became prevalent 
I commenced to ride a wheel, and soon became 
satisfied that if the ball-bearing pneumatic tire 
wheel could in some way be made available for the 
sulky it would be a great improvement, and I formu- 
lated a crude sort of plan in my mind for their adjust- 
ment to the high-wheeled sulky I then used, but did 
not attempt to put my ideas into any practical shape. 
There was a gentleman in the East who seemed to 
entertain the same views, that had the genius to gratify 
his ambition, and during the Detroit meeting of 1892 
he shipped one of his contrivances to Budd Doble, and 
requested him to try it in a race. It consisted of a 
pair of pneumatic wheels adjusted to a high-wheeled 
sulky frame, and made quite a grotesque appearance 
when it first arrived. For some reason, Mr. Doble did 
not care to gratify this gentleman's desire, and for 
several days after its arrival the sulky stood unused. 
I had in my stable that season the horse Excellence, 
and one day I desired to work him four pretty stiff 
heats, and hitched him to my high-wheeled sulky and 
drove him a mile, and the time was 2.23^. I then 
told Mr. Doble I would like to make the next trial in 
that new-fangled contrivance of his, and he said he 
would be glad to have me do so. I hitched to it and 
drove him a mile in 2.21^. The next mile I tried my 
own sulky again and the best he could do was 2.23^. 
The next trial I again hitched to the new sulky, and 
he again trotted the mile in 2.21^. This trial satisfied 
79 



me that a horse could make faster time in the new 
sulky than the old. That afternoon I was to start 
Honest George in a race, and borrowed this pneumatic 
sulky for that purpose ; and when I appeared on the 
track with Honest George hitched to it, you could hear 
the spectators laugh for a block, and so curious did it 
appear to some that their comments would indicate 
they thought I was the advance guard of Buffalo Bill's 
show. But, notwithstanding the jeers and laughter, I 
won the race, and this was the first time within my 
knowledge that this modern invention that has been 
such an important factor in revolutionizing track records 
was ever used in a race in the Grand Circuit. The 
next week I had Honest George entered in a race at 
Cleveland and borrowed this sulky again in which to 
make the race, and again won ; which I doubt if I 
could have done in my own sulky, as Honest George 
was a strong favorite and, as is usual in such cases, the 
whole field was against me. After this race, Mr. Doble 
became satisfied of the advantage of this sulky over 
the high wheel and commenced to use it in his races, 
and it was not long before they were in quite general 
use throughout the Grand Circuit and elsewhere. 



so 




o 



IN a slow-pacing race at Philadelphia, in the early- 
part of that season in which I started Glendennis, 
appeared a new horse to me. He was a bay gelding 
about fifteen hands high, of very smooth conformation 
except his knees, and they were so bowed as to give 
him the appearance of being badly knee-sprung, and a 
stranger would not think it possible for those legs to 
stand the strain of a hard contested race. This horse 
was Robert J., that afterward became one of the most 
sensational and greatest turf performers ever known. 
He was then four years old and this was his first racing 
season. He was distanced in the race at Philadelphia, 
but won a race in New York a few days later and soon 
after that at Albany. Although he did not then have 
a fast record and had not shown phenomenal speed, yet 
there was something about the horse and his easy way 
of going that caused me to like him ; and at my sug- 
gestion, while we were at Albany, Mr. Hamlin pur- 
chased him and also purchased his dam. As soon as I 
commenced to work him I became satisfied that we had 
a great horse if those bow legs would only stand the 
hardships of fast racing, about which I had serious 
doubts, and many times after I had given him a stiff 
workout I would sit and watch those crooked legs to 
see if I could discover any trembling or signs of weak- 
ness in them ; but I never saw any indication that 
they were not as strong as those of any horse in my 
stable ; and in all the great races in which I afterwards 
drove him he never weakened, and would stand the 
strain of a long race as well as any horse I ever drove. 
He was a very pure-gaited horse and I generally shod 
8i 



him with a five-ounce shoe, both in front and behind, 
and in his races he required no boots except to pro- 
tect his quarters and coronets. We got him early in 
the season of 1892, and I worked him some before the 
meetings commenced in the Grand Circuit, and con- 
cluded he was good enough to start in the great races 
which are there given. I first started him at Detroit 
in a slow class, which he won in straight heats ; and 
the next week I started him in the free-for-all pace at 
Cleveland, which he won without trouble ; and in the 
different important races in which I started him that 
season he won them all except at Buffalo and Lexing- 
ton, where he finished second in each race. In 1893, I 
started him at all the important meetings and do not 
remember of his losing a single race. I started him, 
in 1894, against the fastest pacers then upon the turf, 
including John R. Gentry and Joe Patchen, and de- 
feated them in many contests. John R. Gentry never 
defeated him, and Joe Patchen never defeated him but 
three times in all their numerous contests. I won so 
many good races with him that it is difficult to say in 
which race or races he most distinguished himself ; but 
I think his best race was the special at Indianapolis, 
against Joe Patchen. Robert J. was then six years old 
and at his very best. The track was good and the day 
favorable for fast time. The friends of the respective 
horses were many, and all the elements conspired to 
make it a most exciting and interesting contest, and 
such it proved to be. Robert J. won the race, in three 
straight heats, in the phenomenal time of 2.03^, 2.02 J^, 
and 2.04^, and his time in the second heat of that 
race was the world's greatest race record. I gave him 
a record that season of 2.01^, which was the world's 
harness record. After the racing season of 1894 was 
82 



over I concluded to ship my racing stable to California, 
and try the experiment of wintering in that far-away 
southern climate. Robert J. was one of those I took 
along. The owner and driver of Joe Patchen were not 
satisfied with the results of the different meetings 
between Robert J. and that horse, and when they 
found I was to take Robert J. to California they 
shipped Joe Patchen there to continue the turf con- 
tests. We first met in California at Los Angeles, 
where Robert J. again defeated the fast son of Patchen 
Wilkes. In February, 1895, a special race was arranged 
for these two horses at Fresno, California. The date 
set for this race happened to be in the rainy season 
which every winter visits the just and the unjust of 
that State. When the day of the race came it simply 
poured, and the mud on the track and everywhere else 
was ankle deep, so the race was postponed from day 
to day, and the rain continued to come down in such 
torrents as to dampen our spirits as well as the track. 
Of course, we were familiar with the usual appliances 
used in drying tracks, but they were of no use in face 
of such a deluge as we were then experiencing. 
Among the horsemen who were there were Monroe 
Salisbury, Andy McDowell, Tom Raymond, Jack 
Curry (driver of Joe Patchen), and myself. As we 
were confronted with an unusual condition, unusual 
methods must be employed to accomplish our purpose, 
so we arranged for the use of 2,300 sheep owned near 
there, and every day the gentlemen mentioned, includ- 
ing myself, would gather these sheep together and 
drive them several times over the track, and by night 
the track would be in fairly good condition, but it 
would rain again in the night, and the next day the 
mud would be as deep as ever ; then the sheep would 
33 



be brought out again and raced over the track. We 
continued this process for so long a period that I 
became thoroughly tired of training and racing sheep. 
The condition of affairs gave me no peace in the day- 
time and at night I would dream of bleating sheep, 
and at breakfast imagined I could taste wool in the 
doughnuts, and I scarcely dared venture on the streets 
for fear of meeting an old ram with a wicked look on 
his sober countenance, as though he was lookingfor some 
one upon whom to wreak his vengeance for disturbing 
his peaceful flock. Finally, one evening, we agreed to 
have the race the next day, however muddy the track 
might be ; and when the race was called the track re- 
sembled a mortar bed more than a race track, and 
every time a horse would pull one of his feet from 
the mud it would sound like the good-night parting 
of a young man and his best girl. The mud flying in 
all directions subjected both drivers and horses to a 
genuine mud bath, and made Robert J. nervous, and 
he broke in the last two heats, and Joe Patchen won 
the race. 

After the race was over I returned to the stall of 
Robert J. and endeavored to separate myself from a 
portion of the real estate of Fresno, which covered me 
so completely that I resembled a clay model of an 
artist. John Eascly, the colored groom who cared for 
Robert J., fairly worshiped the little horse, and took 
his defeat very much to heart. He said to me as I 
entered the stall : '' Look dar, boss, no wonder dis hoss 
couldn't win dat race," and looking up over the door 
of the stall where John's finger pointed, I saw the 
ominous figure 13, and John continued: "Dat is the 
hoodoo what caused us to lose, and no hoss can eber 
win a race hitched in dis stall; and old Joe Patchen 



never could beat Robert no how, if dis little hoss has 
a fair show/* and, thinking of the combined misfor- 
tunes of the mud and hoodoo, John refused to be 
comforted. I won the free-for-all trot the same day 
with Nightingale, which in part compensated for the 
defeat of Robert. I drove him in many races after 
this, and he won nearly all of those in which he started. 
He combined the elements of extreme speed, game- 
ness, endurance, and gentleness in a degree second to 
no horse I ever saw. 

The records show Robert J. has paced in races, one 
heat in 2.02^, one in 2.02^, two in 2.03 J^, one in 
2.03^, one in 2.04, two in 2.04 J^, two in 2.04^, two 
in 2.05, three in 2.05^, three in 2.05^, four in 2.05^, 
four in 2.06, one in 2,o6j^, four in 2.06^, three in 
2.07^, five in 2.08, one in 2.o8j{, three in 2.083^, 
two in 2.08^, one in 2.09, one in 2.09j{, one in 
2.09 J^, three in 2.09^, and one in 2.10. Against time 
he has paced one mile in 2.01 J^, one in 2.02, one in 
2.02^, one in 2.03, one in 2.03^, two in 2.04, one 
in 2.04)^, one in 2.04^, one in 2.06, one in 2.06^, 
three in 2.07, and one in 2.10. The sum of the above 
is 6y heats in 2.10 or better, eleven of which were 
paced in 2.04 or better; which were, at the time he 
retired from the turf, five times more than had been 
paced within the 2.04 circle by all the other pacers 
that ever wore harness. 



85 



CHAPTER X. 

SOME VILLAGE FARM RECORD BREAKERS — FANTASY — 
BRIGHT REGENT — THE MONK — HEIR -AT- LAW — 
AMERICAN BELLE — MILAN CHIMES — LADY OF THE 
MANOR — LORD DERBY — DARE DEVIL — THE AB- 
BOTT. 

FANTASY, the great daughter of Chimes and 
Homora, by Almonarch, foaled March 7, 1890, 
was one of the first of the get of that sire that 
was trained by me. She was broken and worked some 
as a two-year-old and could trot fast from the begin- 
ning of her development. She made her debut as a 
three-year-old at a time when others of her age of 
superior quality were numerous in different parts of 
the country. Her first start was at Pittsburg, in July, 
1893, in the 2.27 class for three-year-olds. She won 
the last three heats of this five-heat race and took a 
record of 2.18^. Among the fast and sensational 
three-year-olds out that year, were William Penn, 
Silicon, Margrave, Wistful, Elfrida, and The Con- 
queror. At Buffalo, on August 8th, she started 
against Margrave, William Penn, and Silicon, and won, 
in straight heats, in 2.153^, 2.15 J^, and 2.15. At Evans- 
ville, Indiana, the same year, she defeated The Con- 
queror, Elfrida, and Wistful, in straight heats, in a 
three-heat race, in 2.18^ and 2.21^. At Nashville, 
October 7th, she defeated a field of ten three-year- 
olds, in straight heats, in a three-heat race, in 2.i6j^ 
and 2.08^. Her record in the second heat of this race 
86 



is the world's race record for three-year-olds. She also 
won in straight heats at Detroit, Rochester and 
Chicago, making a record for her first season's cam- 
paign of winning every race in which she started and 
all, with one exception, in straight heats. She 
made several successful starts in 1894, and took a 
record at Terre Haute in September of that year of 
2.06, which is the world's record for mares of that age. 
I took her with some of the other horses I had in 
training to California in the fall of 1894, where she 
wintered. Her first race in 1895 was the free-for-all 
at Minneapolis, July 3d, where she met and defeated 
Directum, David B., and Kentucky Union, three race 
horses of the highest quality. This was a great race 
and was desperately contested from start to finish. 
Directum, by reason of his almost unbeaten record, 
was looked upon by the public as the probable 
winner ; while the reputation of David B. and Ken- 
tucky Union was scarcely second to anything then in 
training. Fantasy, while a nervous, high-strung mare, 
was level headed, and up to the time of this race had 
never made a break in all the races I had driven 
her; but on the Minneapolis track was a roadway 
across the track, used by carriages in crossing to and 
from the inside enclosure of the track, and when she 
came to that crossing, in the second, fourth and fifth 
heats, she jumped and left her feet, and these were the 
only times during her life that she ever broke in a race. 
Fantasy won the first heat in 2.09, Directum the 
second in 2.i2j^, Fantasy the third in 2.09, Directum 
the fourth in 2.131^, and Fantasy the fifth in 2.11%. 
From Minneapolis I went to LaCrosse, Wisconsin, 
where I started her in the free-for-all against the great 
race horses Azote and Phoebe Wilkes, and here it was 
87 



that the first defeat of her life was recorded. Azote 
won the race in straight heats in 2.07^, 2.12^/^ and 

2.09, Fantasy finishing second in each heat. She was 
a great mare in 1896. In the free-for-all at Columbus 
she defeated Beuzetta, Onoqua, and Lord Clinton, in 
straight heats, in 2.o6j4, 2.08, and 2.09^. In the 
free-for-all at New York she vanquished a great field, 
consisting of William Penn, Kentucky Union, Onoqua, 
and Beuzetta, in straight heats, in 2.09^, 2.08, and 

2.10. At Medford, Massachusetts, she made short 
work of William Penn, Onoqua, and Kentucky Union, 
by winning, in straight heats, in 2.1 1, 2.10, and 2.10^. 
Perhaps the greatest race of her life was at Readville, 
August 27th of that year, where in the free-for-all she 
met her great rivals Kentucky Union, Onoqua, Beu- 
zetta, and William Penn. This was at that time the 
fastest four-heat race on record. Fantasy won the 
first and second heats in 2.09 and 2.08^ ; Kentucky 
Union won the third in 2.07^ ; and Fantasy ended the 
agony by winning the fourth in 2.08. This was her 
last racing season, as while being jogged on the road 
at Selma, Ala., in the spring of 1897, she met with an 
accident of so serious a nature that she could never be 
trained again ; and thus passed from the race track one 
of the greatest performers known in all its annals. 
Fantasy is a very rangy, racy-looking mare, about six- 
teen hands high, and in ordinary flesh will Weigh 
about 1,150 pounds. 



ONE of the best and fastest natural-gaited pacers 
I ever campaigned was the chestnut gelding 
Bright Regent. When I commenced with him 
as a three-year-old he was a cripple, but I nursed his 
ailing legs that fall and winter, and the next season(i895) 
thought him strong enough to race. I started him first 
at Minneapolis in the 2.23 class, which he won in straight 
heats and took a record of 2.18^. I also started him 
at La Crosse, Saginaw, Detroit, Cleveland, Buffalo, 
Rochester, New York, Louisville and Terre Haute, 
and won every race in which he started, and all in 
straight heats, except at Saginaw and Detroit ; and at 
Louisville he took a race record of 2.08^, which I 
considered was doing pretty well for a green four-year- 
old in a partially crippled condition. His legs bothered 
him more or less all the time, and it required constant 
care and attention to keep him strong enough to stand 
the strain. His legs were not very strong in 1896, and 
I feared he would be unable to make much of a cam- 
paign that year, and only started him twice during that 
season. The first was at Detroit, in July, in the 2.09 
class, in which he won the first two heats in 2.o8j^ 
and 2.09j^ ; but his legs weakened and he lost the 
race. I then gave him a long rest, and did not start 
him again until the Lexington meeting in the fall, 
where he won the 2.09 class, in straight heats, in 
2.06^, 2.06^, and 2.07 j4 ; and this, I think, was his 
best race. In 1897, I started him in three races in 
which he met defeat in each race, viz : Glens Falls, 
Readville, and Portland ; but at Portland he won the 
third and fourth heats, and took a record in the third 



heat of 2.06}^, which is his record. After that race 
his legs were so bad that I regretfully gave up training 
and racing him. 



90 



ONE of the bright stars of the Village Farm pro- 
duction is The Monk, a bay gelding, foaled in 
1893, sired by Chimes, dam Goldfinch by Mam- 
brino King. This horse is the same age and bred in the 
same lines as The Abbott, and at the time he met with 
the accident hereinafter mentioned was a faster horse 
than the now world's champion. He was taken up when 
three years old, while I was away, and his speed at- 
tempted to be developed ; but when I returned in 
the fall he could not trot a three-minute gait, and 
was as awkward and clumsy as any three-year-old I 
ever saw. They had him shod with about sixteen- 
ounce shoes in front, and he simply would not, or 
could not, show any speed to speak of. I had those 
heavy shoes taken off and shod him with eight-ounce 
shoes in front and added a light toe weight, and 
after he was thus shod he would shuffle and mix 
his gaits for a little way, then strike a square trot 
and go a few feet, then commence to shuffle again ; 
but every time I drove him he would trot more and 
more, until finally he quit shuffling and would trot 
square, and after I got his gait straightened out he 
could trot fast. I first started him at Detroit in July, 
1898, when he was four years old, in the 2.27 class, 
which he won in straight heats, the best time being 
2.16^. I also started him at Cleveland, Columbus, 
Fort Wayne, Glens Falls, Readville, New York, Hart- 
ford, Portland, Louisville, in the 2.20 and 2.30 classes, 
and at Lexington in the Transylvania Stake and the 
2.17 class. He was first in every race in which he 
started, except at Fort Wayne, Readville, and in the 
91 



Transylvania Stake, in which races he finished second 
and won two heats in each of these races. He won 
the first two heats in the Transylvania Stake in 2.09^^ 
and 2.o8j4, but was defeated by Rilma the next 
three heats. This was his first and last campaign, 
as an accident to one of his forelegs has rendered it 
impossible up to this time to train him again ; but 
with the long rest he has now had, I hope and be- 
lieve he will again be able to stand the hardships 
of campaigning ; and if he does, he will, I think, be 
one of the best horses in his class. From what I 
have said it will be seen that he started in thirteen 
races, in which he was first in eleven and second in 
two. What he would have been, except for this ac- 
cident, when fully matured, is largely a matter of 
conjecture, but my belief is that he would have been 
in the front ranks of the greatest of turf performers. 



92 



THE black stallion Heir-at-Law, sired by Mambrino 
King, dam Estabella by Alcantara, and foaled 
May 20, 1888, I first started in a race as a trotter 
in 1 894, and during that season he started at Chicago, In- 
dianapolis, Rochester, Terre Haute, Fort Wayne, Lex- 
ington, and Nashville. He took his first record at In- 
dianapolis, where he won the second heat in 2.14^. 
His best trotting race was at Nashville, in the 2.21 class, 
which he won, in straight heats, in 2.131^, 2.14, and 
2.12. This was the only season in which he ever trot- 
ted, as my work with him that season convinced me 
that he could pace much faster than he could trot, 
and his subsequent record shows the correctness of 
that conclusion. He was in the stud in 1895, and 
not started at all. His early work in the season of 
1896 gave evidence of a first-class pacing race horse 
at no distant day. I first started him in a pacing 
race at Peoria, 111., July i, 1896, in the 2.40 class, in 
which he won two heats and took a record of 2.13. 
I also started him that season at Saginaw, Detroit, 
Cleveland, Buffalo, Fort Wayne, Providence, Med- 
ford, Mass., Portland, and Lexington. His record 
when the season was finished was six times first, three 
times second, and unplaced once. In 1897 I started 
him at Cleveland, Columbus, Fort Wayne, Glens 
Falls, Providence, New York, Portland, Louisville, 
and Lexington. At Lexington I gave him a race 
record of 2.05^. This was his last racing season, as 
when running in the paddock the next year he acci- 
dentally broke one of his forelegs, and, of course, his 
racing days were over. Heir-at-Law is a very rugged, 
93 



strong horse, and was a very speedy, game and reli- 
able race horse, and his records of 2.05^ pacing, and 
2.12 trotting, are, I think, the world's race records for 
one horse at the two gaits. 



94 



THE bay filly American Belle was a very success- 
ful three-year-old campaigner. I first started her 
at Readville in the 2.30 class for three-year-olds, 
and she finished third in a great field. A few days later 
I started her at New York in the 2.40 class, where she 
finished ahead of a large field, but was beaten for first 
place by Cresceus, the present champion stallion. These 
two races did her much good, and she kept improving 
very rapidly. Her first winning race was at Hartford 
in the 2.40 class for three-year-olds, which she won, in 
straight heats, in 2.175^, 2.14^, and 2.19^. She also 
won in straight heats at Portland, Louisville, Lexing- 
ton, and in the fall meeting at Readville. At Port- 
land she won the second, third and fourth heats in 
2.12^, 2.i4j^, and 2.16. Cresceus winning the first 
heat in 2.12. Thus in the only eight races I ever started 
her she was first in six, second in one, and third in 
one, and took a record of 2.12^ in the third heat of 
a race, a record that few three-year-olds have ever 
equaled. 



95 



A COLT that gave promise of becoming one of the 
best ever produced at Village Farm was Milan 
Chimes. He was broken as a two-year-old, and in 
the fall, when three years old, I took him with the pros- 
pective campaigners for the next year (1898) to Selma, 
Ala., and from the time I first commenced to work him 
he was a pure-gaited and very fast trotter. I never tried 
to drive him to his limit, and have no means of telling 
what it was. His first and only race was at Hartford, 
on July 5, 1898, in the 2.20 class. He won the second 
heat in 2.13^ in a jog, and could have trotted that 
heat several seconds faster. He was unsteady in the 
third heat and lost it, but won the fourth in 2.16^. 
He was leading in the fifth heat and when coming 
down the home stretch, without any warning or known 
cause, he fell and died almost instantly ; and by his 
death I think the turf was robbed of one of its bright- 
est ornaments. 



96 



\f 



^ 



'A. 
^^^ 



LADY of the Manor, holder of the world's pacing 
J record for mares, was foaled May 31, 1894, sired 
by Mambrino King, dam Princess Chimes by 
Chimes. She was worked some as a three-year-old, and 
soon gave evidence of possessing great speed. I first 
started her in the 2.24 class at the Detroit meeting, in 
1898, where she won the first heat in 2.09^, but had to 
be satisfied with third place in the race. Her first win- 
ning race was at Cleveland, where she won the third, 
fourth and fifth heats in 2.15^, 2.10^, and 2.1 1. She 
also won at Hartford, Columbus, Fort Wayne, Glens 
Falls, Fort Erie, Portland, Readville, and two races at 
Lexington. 

At Lexington she took a race record of 2.o8j^. She 
also started at Louisville, but was unplaced. From 
the above statement it will be seen that in her first 
racing season as a four-year-old she was first in ten 
races, third in one, and unplaced in one. Her record 
of 2.08 j{ advanced her to a very fast class in 1899, t>ut 
she was first in three out of the six starts she made 
that season, and they were all great races. Her first 
winning race that season was at Glens Falls, where 
she won the second, third, and fifth heats in 2.04^^, 
2.1 1 1^, and 2.08 J^. She won at Hartford, in straight 
heats, in 2.06^, 2.05^, and 2.0814^. At Readville she 
won the first and third heats, in a three-heat race, in 
2.055^ and 2.07^. I never saw a horse that possessed 
more speed than did this mare. She had shown me a 
half mile in one minute, and I firmly believe that she 
would have made a record of two minutes or better 
had she remained on the turf a season or two longer ; 
97 



but in the fall of 1899, while being worked on the 
track at Louisville, she met with so serious an accident 
that she could never be trained again ; and when she 
retired, another star of the first magnitude set before 
it had reached its zenith. 



4 







o 



DEXTER was undoubtedly the greatest trotting 
horse the world ever saw up to the time of his 
retirement. He was foaled in 1858, and was first 
trained for racing as a five-year-old in 1863. In Novem- 
ber, 1864, when he was six years old, and after he had 
been trained, and raced the whole season, by Mr. Hiram 
Woodruff, the greatest trainer and driver of his day, he 
trotted a trial mile driven by Mr. Woodruff, and his time 
was 2.23j{, which was the fastest mile he had up to 
that time ever trotted, and in speaking of this trial 
Mr. Woodruff says : " Mr. Shepard F. Knapp and Mr. 
Alley were present and they timed him. I knew all 
the way round that Dexter was doing a great thing. 
I had hardly ever then, if ever, except in the cases of 
Flora Temple and the gray mare Peerless, that 
belonged to Mr. Bonner, seen such a stroke kept up 
from end to end. When I turned and came back I 
lifted up my hand and said to the gentlemen, * Oh, what 
a horse !' ' What do you think you made,' said they. 
' Not worse than 2.24,' I answered. ' It was just 2.231^,' 
they said, and I was satisfied. This was speed enough 
for a six-year-old horse in his first season of trotting." 
I mention this incident, not for the purpose of dis- 
paraging the merits of Dexter but for the purpose of 
calling attention to the mighty strides that have been 
made since that time, both in breeding the harness race 
horse and the appliances for his speed development. 

Lord Derby was foaled May 26, 1895, sired by Mam- 
brino King, dam Claribel by Almont, Jr. He is a dark 
bay gelding with some white markings on his feet, 
15^ hands high, and will weigh about 1,000 pounds. 
In conformation, Lord Derby resembles a thorough- 
99 



bred more than any trotter I ever handled. He is 
slim and rather delicate in appearance, but in the races 
he has trotted he has exhibited as much stamina as any 
race horse need have. I first commenced to work him 
in the fall of 1899, when he was four years old, and he 
did not then give promise of such extreme speed as 
he has developed. That fall he could not trot a half 
mile better than i.io, but his gait was beautiful and in 
the work I gave him he improved very fast. I started 
him at different places in the Grand Circuit in 1900, 
among them being at Lexington in the Translyvania 
Stake, which I think he would have had a fair chance of 
winning but for an accident which occurred in the first 
quarter of the first heat ; the field was quite large and 
just in front of Lord Derby two sulkies collided and 
threw the drivers out, and to avoid the mix-up I had to 
bring him to a complete stop, and thereby came very 
near being distanced, and to get inside the flag he was 
compelled to trot the last three-quarters of the mile at 
such a terrific gait that he was unable to do himself 
justice in the next heats. I think he trotted the 
middle half of that heat in 1.02. His best race was at 
New York, which he won, in straight heats, in 2.07, 
2.07, and 2.08. This horse is now in perfect condition 
and what he may accomplish in the future I hardly 
dare hazard an opinion. That he is a great horse 
there can be no question. Whether he will be the 
greatest time alone can disclose. But measured by 
the records of one season's racing, he is the greatest 
trotting race horse I have ever driven ; and if Hiram 
Woodruff were now living and compared his race 
record of 2.07 as a five-year-old with the trial mile of 
Dexter in 2.23)^ as a six-year-old, is it not probable 
that he would again exclaim, '* Oh, what a horse !" 




:^ 



I 



MR. C. J. HAMLIN says that when he was a 
young man he used to attend dancing parties, 
and was very fond of dancing with a young 
lady that was a good dancer, but he soon found that it 
added much to his enjoyment to dance with one that 
was beautiful to look upon as well as a good dancer; 
and that when he commenced to breed trotters, having 
in mind his experience in the gay whirl of his giddy 
days, he determined, if possible, to combine beauty 
with speed in the animals he should produce, and he 
has consistently adhered to that theory during all the 
long years he has been engaged in the business. 

The black stallion Dare Devil is a product of this sys- 
tem of breeding, and is one of the most beautiful horses 
ever seen upon the race track or in the show ring. 
He is a coal black, with three white ankles, a small 
star, and snip foaled June i, 1893, sired by Mam- 
brino King, dam Mercedes by Chimes. His first race 
was at Detroit, when he was four years old, in which 
he won the last three of four heats in 2.151^, 2.165^, 
and 2. 1 5 14. He also won at Cleveland, Columbus,' 
Fort Erie, Glens Falls, Portland and Louisville, and 
met his only defeat that season at Lexington, after 
winning the first heat in 2.09^. His showing that 
season was so good that it was decided to keep him 
in the stud in 1898, which proved a very unfortu- 
nate experiment, as, somehow, in his stall he 
wrenched one of his hips, and he has never been 
strong enough since to stand proper training. I 
trained him the best I could in 1899, but he plainly 
showed the effects of his injury. I started him in 



four races that season, in which he was second in 
two, and third in one, and finished the season at 
New York, where he was so lame that he could 
hardly trot at all, and finished eighth in the first 
heat, when I drew him. I trained him again in 
1900, and started him in two or three races, when 
he became so lame I had to send him home, and it 
is not probable that he will ever again listen to the 
admonitions of a starter. Dare Devil possesses all 
the gameness of the family of which he is a dis- 
tinguished member, and at the time he took his record 
of 2.0954^ could have trotted a mile in 2.06 or 2.07. 



I 




No ONE nowadays need think he has a sure 
enough winner in the Grand Circuit, however 
fast and promising his candidate may be, as 
that great arena is like a mighty river fed by innumer- 
able streams. It opens at Detroit late in July, and to 
it come all the choice performers of the smaller race 
tracks that have been campaigning the earlier part of 
the season, as well as the great horses who have won 
their laurels over its historic tracks in years gone by, 
and have been specially prepared to continue their 
triumphs amidst the scenes of their former conquests. 
The world's champion. The Abbott, was foaled July 
20, 1893 ; sired by Chimes, dam Nettie King, record 
2.2034!, by Mambrino King ; second dam Netty Murphy 
by Hamlin Patchen ; third dam by a son of Kentucky 
Whip — thoroughbred. He is a dark bay gelding, i$j4 
hands high, left hind foot white, and in ordinary flesh 
will weigh about 1,050 pounds. He has an intelligent- 
looking head, and his general conformation is smooth ; 
while his legs are not unusually heavy, they are well 
formed, and his feet are perfect. Taken as a whole, 
he comes about as near being an ideal-looking race 
horse of the modern school as is often seen. I first 
commenced work with him in the fall of 1896, when 
he was three years old. At that time he was rough- 
gaited and inclined to amble and mix his gaits. I ex- 
perimented with him for some time before he con- 
vinced me that he possessed material sufficiently good 
to be eligible to start in the Grand Circuit. I finally 
shod him with eleven-ounce shoes in front and added 
three-ounce toe weights, and put a square-toed shoe 
103 



on the left front foot and the right hind foot, and 
made the shoe on the left hind foot full at the toe 
and a trifle longer than the shoe on the other hind 
foot, and, shod in this way, he would trot square 
after the preliminary amble in which he would usu- 
ally indulge when first started — a habit he has not 
yet entirely forsaken. His first start was at Detroit, 
July 13, 1897, in the M. and M. stake, in which he won 
the second heat in 2.11 j4, the fastest heat of the race, 
and finished in fourth place. He started a week later 
at the same meeting in the 2.20 class, and was unplaced. 
But at Cleveland, the next week, he won the 2.18 class, 
in straight heats, in 2.12^, 2.11 j4, and 2.1414^. At 
Fort Wayne he won the first two heats in 2.13^ and 
2.I3J4^, was third in the third heat, and distanced in 
the fourth. At the August meeting, at Readville, he 
won, in straight heats, in 2.14^, 2.13, and 2.141^. He 
also won at Hartford, in straight heats, in 2.15, 2.i6j{, 
and 2.i6j^. At Louisville he won the first heat in 
2.13, was second in the second and third heats, and 
distanced in the fourth. At Lexington he won the 
second, third, and fourth heats, in 2.13, 2.15^, and 
2.15^. At the September meeting, at Readville, he 
again won, in straight heats, in 2.15, 2.131^, and 2.13^. 
At Portland he won the first, second, and fourth heats, 
in 2aS%, 2.131^, and 2.1514^. Making for his first, 
season the following record : Six times first, fourth 
once, and unplaced three times. His first start in 
1898 was at Hartford, July 4th, where he won a three- 
heat race to wagon in 2.14 and 2.i2j^. His record in 
the second heat being the world's race record to wagon. 
He next started at Detroit in the 2.10 class, which he 
won, in straight heats, in 2.12^, 2.12, and 2.08^. In 
the same class, at Cleveland, the next week, he met and 
104 



defeated Eagle Flannigan, Pilot Boy, Don Cupid, and 
Rilma, in straight heats, in 2.08 J^, 2.09^^, and 2.09^^. 
He won the second and third heats at Columbus in 
2.0834^ and 2.o8j^, and finished in second place in the 
race. He won the first two heats at Glens Falls in 
2.i2j{ and 2.11^, and finished in second place. Ar 
Hartford he won the first, fourth, and fifth heats, in 
2.1 1 1^, 2.10^, and 2.09^. He won at Fort Erie, in 
straight heats, in 2.1254^, 2.14^, and 2.13. At Port- 
land he finished in third place. At the fall meeting, 
at Readville, he won, in straight heats, in 2.o8j{, 
2.09^, and 2.08^. He closed the season at Lexing- 
ton, where he won, in straight heats, in 2.15^, 2.08, 
and 2.0854!. His record for the second racing season 
being seven times first, twice second, and third once, and 
retiring in his five-year-old form with a race record of 
2.08. He improved all during the season. I raced him 
that season shod with ten-and-a-half-ounce shoes in 
front and five-ounce shoes behind, and since then he 
has worn nine-ounce shoes in front. He developed 
speed so rapidly and showed all the elements of a first- 
class race horse so plainly that before this season was 
through I was convinced he would be invincible in the 
free-for-all class whenever I should deem it advisable 
to introduce him to that select co'mpany. He started 
the campaign of 1899 ^^ Detroit, July 20th, in the 
2.08 class, where he won the first, third, and fourth 
heats, in 2.07 J^, 2.09, and 2.ioJ^. In the same class, 
at Cleveland, the next week, he met and defeated 
Eagle Flannigan, Kentucky Union, Mattie Patterson, 
and John Nolan, in straight heats, in 2.08^4^, 2.o8>^, 
and 2.08^. He won in the same class at Columbus, in 
straight heats, in 2.09^, 2.07 J^^, and 2.07^. His first 
start in the free-for-all class was at Fort Erie, August 
105 



7, i899jwhich he won, in straight heats, in 2.08, 2.09^, 
and 2.io>^. In the free-for-all at Glen's Falls he de- 
feated Bingen, Monterey, Kentucky Union, Directum 
Kelly, and John Nolan, winning the first, third, and 
fourth heats in 2.09, 2.09^, and 2.08^. He won in 
the same class at Hartford, in straight heats, in 2.08 J^, 
2.0854^, ^^^ 2.07^. He repeated this performance at 
Providence by winning two straight heats in a free-for- 
all three-heat race in 2.08)^ and 2.06^. At New York 
he started against John Nolan, in a free-for-all three- 
heat race, and won in straight heats, in 2.09^ and 
2.065^. He started at Providence in the free-for-all, 
and had Bingen as his only competitor, whom he de- 
feated, in straight heats, in 2.09^, 2.09^^, and 2.06}^. 
He closed the season's campaign at Lexington, where 
he defeated Bingen and Cresceus, winning the third, 
fourth, and fifth heats in 2.oy}4j 2.08^, and 2.ioJ^ — 
Bingen winning the first two heats in 2.07 J^ and 2.09. 
His record for the season being ten races won and not 
meeting a single defeat. No other horse, living or 
dead, ever made such a record as this. In a total of 
thirty races, embracing all the races in which he has 
ever started, he was first in twenty-three, second in 
two, third in one, fourth in one, and unplaced in three. 
In the thirty races in which he started he won seventy- 
six heats, all below 2.20 ; sixty-nine of these heats 
were better than 2.15, and thirty-eight were better 
than 2.10. In 1900 there was no free-for-all class in 
the Grand Circuit, and believing he had the ability to 
trot a faster mile than any horse had ever yet done, I 
took him along with my racing stable and gave exhi- 
bitions at many of the large meetings. I first started 
him at Detroit, and he trotted a mile in 2.07. Read- 
ville next engaged his attention and he there trotted a 
106 



mile in 2.05^. The next trial was at Providence and 
here the time was 2.04^. When Hartford was reached 
the race record to wagon was 2.121^, which he made 
on this track in 1898, and the trial record to wagon 
was 2.09^, held by Lucille. I therefore determined to 
try and crown him as king in front of this vehicle, and 
he easily demolished all previous records by drawing a 
wagon a full mile in the phenomenal time of 2.05^. I 
next started him against the Sickle Bearer, at New York, 
where he trotted to a record of 2.04 ; and when Terre 
Haute was reached, in the fall, all the conditions were 
favorable for a fast mile, and I there drove him a mile 
in 2.03 J^, and thereby dethroned Alix as Queen of the 
trotting world. The fractional parts of this record- 
breaking mile were made as follows, viz : First quarter 
in 31^ seconds, 2d quarter in 30^ seconds, 3d quar- 
ter in 29 J^ seconds, 4th quarter in 31^ seconds, and 
the mile in 2.03 J^. It will be observed that the middle 
half of this mile was trotted in exactly one minute, 
which is much faster than any of his predecessors ever 
trotted this particular part of the mile, and that while 
several other champions have surpassed his time in the 
first quarter, no one has ever approached the speed he 
showed in the third quarter. It will also be observed 
that in the five starts he made against time in harness, 
he improved at every trial, from 2.07 at Detroit to 2.03^ 
at Terre Haute. The gait of The Abbott, when at full 
speed, approaches perfection as nearly as we are likely 
to see in any horse for some time ; there is just enough, 
but not too much, knee or hock action ; his stride is 
even, fast and frictionless, with no false motions or 
waste of power. He has constantly improved in every 
race and every trial since the commencement of his 
career, and as he is now only eight years old, perfectly 
107 



sound, and without a blemish of any kind, I can see 
no reason why, if he does not go wrong in some way, 
he should not still further reduce his record. That a 
horse will trot a mile in harness in two minutes in the 
near future does not in my judgment admit of a doubt. 
Whether any of the horses I have mentioned will be 
the first to accomplish this much-desired result time 
will soon demonstrate. 



io8 



CHAPTER XI. 

BREAKING COLTS. 

"AS THE twig is bent the tree will grow" is a 
£\^ maxim that has come down to us through 
the ages, and has direct application to the 
breaking and educating of a colt. The viciousness 
and worthlessness of many otherwise valuable horses 
can be traced directly to the want of knowledge, 
care and patience on the part of the trainer, in giving 
the young animal his first few lessons in harness. 
While in my early career I had quite a large experi- 
ence in breaking colts, since being at Village Farm 
I have had nothing whatever to do with that 
important branch of the business, as that is done 
entirely by Mr. H. B. Freeman, a man of large 
experience, and the most successful colt breaker I 
ever saw. Out of the great number he has broken at 
Village Farm he has never injured one, and when he 
turns them over to be handled they are thoroughly 
broken and ready for use. I thoroughly approve his 
methods, and if those desiring colts well broken will 
follow his instructions, their desires will be gratified. 
In the first place, I think it best to take plenty of 
time to bit a colt and have him thoroughly broken 
before trying to give him speed. I usually ground 
break him a week or ten days, that is, let him get 
thoroughly use to the harness, and drive him a good 
deal with it on and teach him to start and stop at the 
word. Also to turn to the right or left, with ease ; 
109 



and, above all, never exhaust him or get his mouth 
sore. During this time it is well to pull a cart 
or sulky, or something light, with shafts up to him 
as if you intended to hook him up. He will soon 
find that the rig is not going to hurt him and will 
not be afraid ; and when hooked up, he wants to 
be driven slowly and only a short distance, never 
far enough to fret and tire him. You will find in 
a short time he will take his work cheerfully. 
After two or three weeks of this kind of work, drive 
him out on the road about a mile, then turn ; if the 
road is good, let him move a hundred or two yards 
well within himself. After getting back to the track, 
jog him around once, let him step the last 200 yards 
at about three-fourths speed. His improvement will 
be astonishing after two weeks of this work. Of 
course, his work can be increased as he gets in condi- 
tion, but I do not think it advisable to continue his 
fast work too long. Always let up on him before he 
gets tired of his work ; two or three weeks' let up will 
do him a great deal of good. After he is taken up the 
second time and jogged a week, he is ready to begin to 
step along a little, as he has not been turned out long 
enough for his muscles to relax ; and after he has been 
started up two or three times, you will find he will 
have more speed than when turned out. I think six 
weeks is long enough to keep him at work this time. 
Turn out again from ten to thirty days. Be governed 
by conditions and the constitution of the colt. My 
experience has been that it is not advisable to jog a 
colt too much, as he is apt to get off his gait and 
does not improve so fast as he does with short, lively 
work. You can generally tell from the actions of colts 
barefooted about the weight shoes he will need. I 



like to shoe them as light as possible. You must 
have weight enough to balance them. The average 
colt will need about seven ounces in front and about 
four ounces behind. Some want a little more and 
some less. When they require more, I generally use a 
light toe weight, two or three ounces, and just as few 
boots as possible. It is safest to use a light quarter 
boot on all of them, as the purest-gaited and best- 
headed colts are liable to make a mistake and cut a 
quarter. 



CHAPTER XII. 

IMPORTANCE OF GOOD ASSISTANTS — TRAINING STABLE 
SHOULD BE PROPERLY CONDUCTED — ADVANT- 
AGES OF SOUTHERN CLIMATE IN WINTERING 
HORSES — SUGGESTIONS ABOUT FEEDING — HOW 
TO CARE FOR TENDER FEET — USES OF THE 
SPRING — IMPORTANCE OF KEEPING THE TEETH 
IN GOOD CONDITION. 

AS NO general, however much ability he might 
possess, ever won a battle unless he had com- 
petent men under him, so it is that no trainer, 
however competent he may be, can properly condition 
a stable of horses for racing unless he has competent 
assistants. I have been very fortunate in the assist- 
ance I have had, especially since coming to Village 
Farm. Mr. Ben White, who has been my chief assist- 
ant for several years, is a young gentleman of the 
highest promise. He is intelligent, patient and care- 
ful, and at all times a gentleman, and I predict for 
him a most brilliant career in his chosen profession. 
The groom is a very important factor in the success of 
a racing stable, and any man that learns how to care for 
his horses as he should, and does his work well, de- 
serves just as much credit for the success of a race as 
does the man that trains and drives the horse. An- 
other important matter I desire to impress upon the 
minds of beginners, and it might apply with equal 
force to some of the more experienced, is that loud 
talk, profanity, vulgarity and obscenity have no proper 



place in a training stable. I have never known a 
horse to be benefited by any of these disgusting habits. 
The training stable should be conducted with the same 
degree of propriety that is observed in the transac- 
tion of any other legitimate business, and should 
at all times be a place where ladies, as well 
as all others, can visit without their sensibili- 
ties being shocked by hearing and seeing things to 
which their ears and eyes are not accustomed. 

A Southern climate has many advantages not pos- 
sessed by a Northern one, in preparing horses for cam- 
paigning. I have experimented in different latitudes for 
the past twenty-five years and feel that this experience 
qualifies me to speak with some degree of accuracy. 
The climate of California in winter is all that could be 
desired, as, except for the rain, there is scarcely a day 
all winter in which horses cannot be worked ; but 
the great distance to ship back and forth from points 
east of the Rocky Mountains renders a resort to that 
delightful climate impracticable. Everything con- 
sidered, I think the most satisfactory climate to winter 
campaigning horses east of the Rocky Mountains is in 
Alabama and Georgia, as it is warm enough there so 
that horses may be worked during all the winter 
months as well as they can in the North during the 
spring and early summer. I have wintered at Selma, 
Ala., several winters, and like it very much. There is 
no use in starting to race horses unless they have 
sufficient speed and endurance to warrant the conclu- 
sion that they will have a fair show of winning in their 
classes, and in order for them to be fit for racing they 
must have a careful and painstaking preparation. You 
cannot take a horse direct from the plow to the race 
track and make a successful campaign with him, how- 
113 



ever much speed you may know him to possess, and 
many horses unjustly get the reputation of being 
'* quitters " simply because they have not been suffici- 
ently prepared to stand the strain of racing. A 
moment's reflection will convince any one that a horse 
cannot do as well when worked in the cold weather of 
the North, where when he sweats it is almost impos- 
sible to get him dry and properly care for him, as he 
can in a warm climate, where he can be worked and 
cared for the same in winter as in summer ; and, from 
my experience, I am satisfied that as much can be 
accomplished in a climate like Selma in the three 
months of winter in preparing a horse for the next 
season's campaign as can be accomplished in six 
months in the North. 

I prefer to winter the horses I expect to campaign 
the following season so that I can have them good and 
strong, with no surplus flesh in the spring. Winter is 
the time to get their feet in good condition, especially 
where they have contracted or uneven quarters. 
A great many trainers use springs in the feet in the 
summer season when the horses are getting strong 
work, which I think is injurious, as the sole of the foot 
has to be trimmed down too thin for the horse to 
make fast work at that time. Some pull the shoes off 
and let the horse go barefooted, to let Nature do the 
work, which is all right, and will be beneficial if you 
will give them time ; but more can be accomplished 
with the spring in six weeks then can be accomplished 
in twelve months when the horse is running bare- 
footed. If the foot is contracted and needs the spring, 
stand the horse in hot water up to the coronet thirty 
minutes ; then take him to the shop and have the sole 
of the foot well pared, also the wall of the foot taken 
114 



down, but that should be done in a manner that will 
not make him tender. Put in the spring, and put 
on an open shoe with nail holes punched near 
the toe, as the nails will not give the spring a chance 
to work if too near the heel. Put the shoe on full at 
the quarters, and it will be only a few days before the 
foot will be wider than the shoe ; then the shoe 
should be taken off and the springs and shoe widened 
a little and the shoe put on again as before. Keep 
this up until the foot is as wide as desired. Do not 
stiffen the springs any more after this, but keep them 
in about six weeks, just stiff enough to hold the foot 
at its then width, and get the shoe set. Be careful 
and not get the heels too wide, as that would be as 
injurious as when they are contracted. A great many 
horses' feet turn in on the inside quarter and are 
straight and all right on the outside quarter. When 
this is the case, punch the shoe with four nail holes on 
the outside, and two on the inside near the toe. All 
the nails being driven on the outside and only two 
near the toe on the inside, will cause the spring to put 
all the pressure against the inside quarter. When 
shod in this manner it will only be a short time until the 
inside quarter will be as straight as the outside. After 
the horse is shod put him in hot water again for thirty 
minutes, and pack his feet with oil meal or clay every 
night for a week or ten days ; after that time two or 
three times a week will do. Some horses have high 
quarters on the inside of the front feet, that is, the 
inside quarter seems to be forced up higher than the 
outside quarter, and when this is the case the horse is 
apt to get sore in his feet. In order to remedy this, 
drop the quarter down, have a stiff bar shoe made 
weighing not less than ten ounces, level the foot, then, 
"5 



after the shoe is fitted, commence at the inside 
quarter, take it down about a quarter of an inch lower 
at the heel than any other part of the foot ; then with 
a rasp file from the lowest point in this quarter to 
about half way to the toe, running out to a feather 
edge at this point ; then put on the shoe, which will 
be solid on the outside quarter, and the bar resting on 
the frog ; this will leave a space on the inside quarter 
of about three inches that does not touch the shoe. 
In ten days or two weeks you will find this quarter 
will come down and rest on the shoe the same as the 
balance of the foot ; then reset the shoe and trim or 
rasp the quarter as before, and continue to do this 
about six weeks or longer if necessary, and you will 
find the foot will be very much improved. 

I do not think a horse should be fed too much grain 
through the winter. It depends a great deal upon the 
condition of the horse at the commencement of winter 
in regard to the amount of grain he should eat. I find 
from seven to nine quarts a day is enough for most 
any horse when he is not getting hard work. A horse 
wants all the good, clean hay he will eat in the morn- 
ing, and I generally feed him two quarts of grain at 
that time ; at noon I like good, clean sheaf oats, cut 
them up and put in about a quart and a half of bran 
to a large pailful of oats ; put in the least bit of salt, 
add just enough water to dampen the bran ; give him 
this, with three or four carrots. With some horses I 
add an ear or two of corn with this feed. At night I 
like to cook the oats ; to do this, put enough oats in 
a large kettle with water sufficient to cook well, which 
will take about two hours ; keep adding water, and do 
not let the oats get too dry while cooking; after the 
oats are well cooked add about a fourth as much bran 
u6 



as there are oats, that is, each horse wants to eat 
three quarts of oats and one quart of bran at night ; 
feed while it is warm ; you may also give an ear or 
two of corn with this feed, if the horse hasn't had 
enough. As spring advances and you begin to give 
the horse more work, you can dispense with the cooked 
food and give him dry oats, especially after grass be- 
gins to come ; then I like to graze two or three times 
a week on days after giving the horse fast work ; the 
grain will have to be increased as the work is increased. 
In the spring I generally feed from ten to twelve 
quarts a day, and some horses will need a little more ; 
but I think most horses do better on twelve quarts a 
day or less, than more. Very few horses will digest 
more than twelve quarts of oats a day. If a horse 
does not digest his grain, fifteen quarts would not be 
as good for him as ten. When horses commence to 
jog in the winter the teeth should be looked after and 
the rough edges taken off, so that the mouth will not 
get sore. When the teeth are neglected they get to 
driving on one rein and fussing with the bit, which is 
very injurious to the horse's temper, as he is liable to 
form the habit and keep it up through the spring and 
summer ; and to be successful the race horse must have 
a good mouth. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

ADVICE TO THE INEXPERIENCED —JOGGING — FEEDING 
AND PREPARING HORSE FOR RACES — BITS AND 
CHECKS — CARING FOR HORSE DURING RACE— USE 
OF REMEDIES FOR DIFFERENT AILMENTS— IMPOR- 
TANCE OF KEEPING STALLS CLEANSED. 

THIS chapter is intended for the benefit of the 
inexperienced. A man to be a successful trainer 
and driver must be a diligent student during 
his whole business life, and should never allow himself 
to think that he has arrived at that state of perfection 
where there is nothing more for him to learn. Success 
will not always crown his efforts, however careful and 
industrious he may be. Any one that has had a large 
experience in the prosecution of an enterprise will 
have some good ideas about the business even though 
he may not himself have met with success, and the 
beginner can get advice from such a man that will be 
of great benefit to him if it is understood and properly 
applied. It is practically impossible to formulate 
any inflexible rule as to the amount of work a 
horse should have in the spring to properly condi- 
tion him for a season's racing, as so much depends 
upon the strength and condition of the horse, that 
what would be proper in one case would be entirely 
inadequate or excessive in another, and the trainer 
must necessarily exercise his best judgment and dis- 
cretion in determining the amount of work to be given 
a horse that has been placed in his hands to condition. 
The following are general rules applicable to most 
ii8 



horses, but must be varied as circumstances require. 
I think it is a mistake to jog horses too far. From 
three to five miles a day is ordinarily sufficient for 
most horses, except that on one day in each week it is 
best to jog seven or eight miles, so the horse will get 
a little leg weary. Some days three miles and some 
four and five miles ; but I do not believe in slow 
jogging for more than one mile. After going the first 
mile it is best to let them jog along good and strong, 
as I am satisfied that from three to five miles stiff 
jogging will do a horse more good than twenty miles, at 
a slow, pokey gait. I also think a great many horses 
are jogged so far, and slow, that it takes away their 
speed, besides it gets monotonous to the horse, and he 
does not take his work as cheerfully as a horse that is 
jogged short and lively. Experience teaches us that 
for a man to do his work well and keep himself in 
proper condition to perform the work, it is necessary 
that the element of cheerfulness be present during 
its performance. Monotony is not only injurious to 
the mental faculties, but, if long continued, will under- 
mine the health and strength. This same principle 
applies to the care and work of horses. Drive a 
horse over the same road day after day, week in 
and week out, and you will observe that he seems to 
lose all interest in his work ; and instead of showing, 
by his actions, that he considers it a pleasure to do the 
master's bidding, his only thought seems to be about 
getting back to the stable where there is rest and 
something to eat. But take him out on a new drive 
where the scenery is fresh to him, and, behold, what 
a change ! He is looking at every object, listening to 
the unfamiliar sounds, and keeps constantly begging 
for more rein, that he may show by his speed the 
119 



pleasure he is experiencing as he gaily steps along the 
new pathway. A horse that is jogged fifteen and twenty 
miles a day slow will stop quicker than a horse that 
is only jogged four and five miles a day good and 
strong. This I know from experience, as I have tried 
the same horses both ways. When possible, I think 
it advisable to give horses some fast work up to the 
first of January, especially green horses that have never 
been started. I find when they have been given strong 
work up to that time that they are much easier to put 
in condition in the spring, as their muscles do not 
relax as much and they stand the work much better. 
This is one reason I think it better to winter them in a 
warm climate. Another is that you have more time 
in the spring of the year to get them ready, and do 
not have to hurry their preparation as you do when 
they are wintered in the North. Any horse that gets 
a long, slow preparation will stand the season's cam- 
paign better than one that does not get it. The trot- 
ting-horse business is like a chain of many links. If 
one or more links are neglected and get rusty, the chain 
does not work well. So it is just as important to look 
after each and every detail as it is to drive the horse 
and hold the watch. It is very essential to have the 
harness fit easy and comfortable, particularly the 
bridle. If the bridle does not fit just right the horse 
will not drive right. The martingales should not be 
too short. Most horses drive best in easy bits. I like 
a large snaffle bit for most horses. The leather bits 
are good for some and pneumatic are good for others. 
I think the Gillan bit is about the best and most 
humane I ever used on a horse. There are some 
horses that need a bar bit, and I find it is well to 
change the bit on some horses every few days. 

120 



Some horses drive best with side checks and some with 
overdraw ; but I find most horses work best with the 
overdraw. My experience has been that more horses 
work good in the Hulten overd raw-check than in any 
other. This check does not suit all horses. Some 
like the plain over-check, with secret bit and chin 
strap. Others like the plain over-check, with chin 
strap without secret bit. When a horse does not 
drive to suit you, it is necessary to change bits and 
checks until you find what suits him best. After the 
horse has been jogged through the winter, as spring 
advances, and the roads get good, it is time to let him 
move along at half speed for two or three hundred 
yards. Do this a couple of times during the three or 
four miles on the road two or three times a week, and 
increase the work from week to week. After getting 
on the track do not speed them for two or three drives, 
then only at half speed for a couple of quarters in the 
mile ; it is best after jogging three miles the wrong 
way of the track to turn around and jog stiff to the 
quarter pole, step them at half speed the second quar- 
ter, jog stiff the third quarter, then step them at half 
speed the last quarter. Do this about three times a 
week for two weeks, the third week work them about 
the same, except step them the last quarter at about 
three-quarter speed. After this they are ready to go 
an easy mile the last half about half speed. Finish 
the last 200 yards good and strong. After a week's 
work of this kind they are ready to go easy repeats. 
The first and second weeks you begin to repeat only 
give them two heats each day you repeat them ; for 
instance, if you are working a horse that can trot a 
mile in 2.20, give him a mile on Monday in 2.40; 
Tuesday, jog him ; Wednesday, give him a mile in 



2.45 i Thursday, give him a mile in 2.40 and one in 
2.35 or 2.36 ; Friday, jog him ; Saturday, blow him 
out just a little through the stretch, and rest him on 
Sunday. The following week work about the same, 
except a second or two stronger. After this give him 
a mile Monday in 2.40 and repeat him in 2.35, always 
stepping the last quarter a little the strongest. Jog 
Tuesday ; Wednesday, give him a mile in 2.40 ; Thurs- 
day, give him a mile in 2.40, one in 2.35 and one in 
2.30; jog on the road Friday; Saturday, jog good 
and strong on the road ; rest again on Sunday. Con- 
tinue working this way, the number of days and heats, 
about four weeks, except increasing the speed one or 
two seconds every week on the days you work out 
three heats. These directions are for horses that can 
trot or pace in 2.20 or better, sound and all right. 
There may be a great many things happen that will 
change the program, such as rainy days, cracked heels, 
etc. It is necessary, after you have commenced to 
repeat to score them once or twice between each heat 
at half speed. Continue work in this way until about 
three weeks before they start in races ; then on Mon- 
day you can give them one heat in 2.40, one in 2.30, 
and one in 2.25 ; jog, Tuesday ; Wednesday, give them 
a mile from 2.25 to 2.30; Thursday, go the first mile in 
2.40, the second in 2.30; the next two miles go within 
three or four seconds of their speed. The days you give 
them four miles, increase the speed the last two miles 
a couple of seconds ; also score three or four times 
between each heat during the last three weeks before 
starting in races. Some horses do well to blow them 
out, that is, work them out, three slow miles two 
days before they race, one mile in 2.40, one in 2.30, 
and one in 2.20 to 2.25 ; but I find most horses do 



better to blow them out an easy mile the day before 
the race. I think it is very injurious to most horses 
not to give them any fast work in four or five days, 
then take them out and give them three or four fast 
heats, especially horses that are good feeders. After 
the horse is in condition, he doesn't need very much 
work between his races, three days before his race 
three slow heats are sufficient. The day before the 
race go a mile in 2.40. 

In the early part of a horse's work I do not think it 
advisable to bandage much nor use leg or body wash. 
I do not think it best to rub the horse too much; it makes 
him sore and irritable, and causes him to lose flesh. 
When the horse comes in from his work throw a light 
blanket over him and take a damp sponge and sponge 
his legs and rub them with a cloth a little, then scrape 
the sweat out of his hair. Straighten his hair with cloths, 
and throw the blanket over him again ; you will be gov- 
erned by the weather as to the weight of the blanket. 
Walk him fifteen or twenty minutes, then take him 
in, rub him again very lightly with the cloths five or 
ten minutes, blanket him again and walk him twenty- 
five or thirty minutes, then he is ready to do up, if 
the work has not been very strong ; but if it has, it will 
be necessary to spend more time on him. After he 
has been rubbed out and cleaned thoroughly, wash 
his feet and sponge his legs. Dry them thoroughly 
with the cloths, give him a little water at different 
times, as he is being cooled out ; after he is finished, 
give him all the water and hay he wants. The day he is 
worked out lightly, he should have a cold mash for his 
dinner ; three quarts and a half of oats and a quart of 
bran, with just enough water to dampen the bran. 
The day he gets repeats or strong work he should 
123 



have a hot mash at night. As you begin to give 
him strong fast work it will be advisable to use band- 
ages, leg and body wash. A wash I like the best for 
this purpose is two parts of witch hazel, one part of 
alcohol, and one part of soft water. This should be 
used warm when the horse comes in from his work. 
Spray it on the body and muscles, then rub well with 
the hands, lay the cooler or light blanket over him 
while the wash and bandages are being put on his 
legs, and cool him out as before stated. If the horse 
has had fast hard work or a race, after he is cooled out 
and ready to put away, use a little of the wash on his 
legs and put on the bandage for a couple of hours. It 
is best to put on the bandage very light. I think the 
wash should be used sparingly on the horse's body. 
Most grooms will use twice as much as is necessary. 
If a horse has a bad leg it will be necessary to use a 
wash that is more of an astringent at night, such a 
one as is hereinafter described for lameness. In dry 
weather, both winter and summer, the horse's feet 
should be packed with oil meal, or clay, three or four 
times a week. 

If the leg is very bad and the horse is lame, it is 
necessary to go easy with him a week or ten days, and 
use "Great Discovery" according to directions. 
After using this a few days use the wash I have here- 
inafter mentioned for lameness, etc. I have derived 
great benefit from using a wash made of sugar of lead, 
six ounces; chloride of ammonia, six ounces ; tincture 
chloride of iron, four ounces ; acetic acid, one pint ; salt, 
eight ounces ; dissolve all separately and add one gallon 
of soft water. The proper way to use this is to bathe 
the leg well with it at night and put a sheet of cotton 
batting around the leg, then put on the bandage and 
124 



leave it on all night. Take it off early in the morning, 
and rub the leg lightly with a soft towel. Leave every- 
thing off until he has had his exercise or work, so the 
leg can have air. I think Mr. Marvin has used this 
tincture for several years. 

It is hardly necessary to say anything about driving, 
as that is one of the first things most trainers learn, 
but I would make a few suggestions. The first is, 
learn to drive with a light hand. Never pull on the 
horse's mouth more than you can possibly help. A 
pulling horse is disagreeable to drive, and cannot trot 
as fast when he pulls, as he is liable to cut off his wind 
a little and possibly choke ; and, above all, never drive 
a horse with the arms extended straight, as you do 
not have control of the horse, and cannot help him 
when he is tired. A great many horses will pull a 
little at times, especially in scoring with a field of 
horses. Then it is necessary to take hold of him a 
little, but ease away to him as soon as possible. With 
some horses you can tell when to do this by the move- 
ment of the ears and head. If you fail to do this at 
the right time, and the horses are evenly matched, you 
will certainly lose the heat. Another suggestion I 
would make is : if you have a horse that cannot trot 
better than 2.14 or 2.15 and you are in a race against 
horses that can trot in 2.10 or 2.12 and happen to 
get away well and trotting second to a horse you know 
can go in 2.10, it is bad policy to try to drive your horse 
faster than he can go in chasing the 2.10 horse. If 
you do this, you will certainly get left, as there is no 
chance for you to win, and you are apt to make a mis- 
take and other horses may come on and beat you for 
a place. A great many horses lose races they could 
win if the driver had patience to sit still a little longer. 
125 



To keep horses in good health you must at all times 
have plenty of fresh air without a draught on them. 
The stall should be cleaned and disinfected. To do 
this, sprinkle all around the stall inside and out with a 
solution of carbolic acid. Also sprinkle slaked lime, 
especially in damp places. Every time horses are 
shipped, the car should be thoroughly cleaned, aired 
and disinfectants used before putting the horses in it. 
I find it very important to do this in every place horses 
go. I also think it is advisable to burn tar and sul- 
phur in the stable two or three time a week. I am 
satisfied it will relieve you of a good deal of worry and 
expense during the season. Horses get sick some- 
times even though you do all you can to prevent it. 
When a horse is taken sick, it is all important that he 
have immediate treatment ; but it sometimes happens 
that Avhen sickness is discovered there is no veterinary 
surgeon to be had in time to do the horse any good, 
and many horses are lost that might have been saved 
if the veterinary had seen them in time. Appreciating 
the importance of applying a remedy as soon as sickness 
is discovered in a horse, and knowing the impossibility 
sometimes of getting a veterinary just when you want 
him, I have for a number of years kept with me a full 
supply of Humphrey's Homeopathic Remedies, and 
have had good results from their use. Not only 
are the results of this medicine very satisfactory but 
it is so easily administered that any one can give it. 
If a man will study the book and go strictly by direc- 
tions he can accomplish much with it. It seems 
hardly necessary to say that you should know and un- 
derstand what the ailment is before you attempt to 
cure it ; for if you do not, neither these remedies nor 
any others will do the horse any good. 
126 



For chafes and cracked heels I have found the follow- 
ing treatment the best : take a little castile soap and 
warm soft water and a soft sponge and cleanse thorough- 
ly ; then thoroughly dry the same, and if very bad put 
on a little vaseline ; then apply a powder made of the 
following ingredients, viz : calomel, one ounce ; borax, 
one ounce ; pulverized alum, one ounce ; pulverized 
camphor gum, one ounce ; pulverized orris root, one 
ounce ; fuller's earth, one ounce ; gum of myrrh, one 
ounce. If vaseline or other salves are properly used 
they are beneficial ; but the trouble is, most grooms 
will use several times more than is necessary, and this 
excessive use keeps the part to which it is applied so 
soft that it does more harm than good, and, therefore, 
I think it advisable to use the powder alone, except in 
extreme cases, which rarely occur. When it is found 
necessary to use vaseline or other salves, as I have 
indicated, it should be applied very sparingly. When 
the heels are rough and more chapped than cracked, 
glycerine is a good remedy. To properly apply this : 
wash the afflicted part with castile soap and warm 
water ; dry thoroughly, and apply a small amount of 
glycerine, and this will often be all the treatment the 
horse will need ; for thrush keep the foot dry and 
clean, and use creoline or calomel. 

It frequently happens that a campaign will develop 
curbs and other forms of weakness in a horse's legs, 
hips and shoulders that will require treatment. I have 
used a great many different kinds of liniment to cure 
these ailments, but have had the best success with 
iodine. To properly use this remedy the following 
method should be observed : Clip the hair off the 
afflicted part ; bathe with warm water, to open the 
pores; then dry thoroughly with cloths ; put on iodine 
127 



liberally at the first application, and rub with a stiff 
brush four or five minutes. Every day for a week, 
after the first application, apply a small quantity of 
iodine with a soft brush. In six or seven days, after 
you are through with the iodine, rub on lard a few 
times. In two or days after this, wash with castile 
soap and warm water. In very bad cases a second 
treatment may be necessary ; but in ordinary cases I 
have found one treatment sufficient. After this treat- 
ment, if the ailment is in the legs, the afflicted part 
should be treated with a preparation composed of salt- 
petre, two ounces ; borax, two ounces ; arnica flowers, 
two ounces. This should all be put into a pan with 
enough water to keep from burning and boiled half an 
hour. When boiled, put it in a gallon jug, add two 
ounces of spirits of camphor, and fill the jug with soft 
water. It is then ready for use as soon as cool. This 
wash should also be used after using " Great Dis- 
covery," and is the most cooling and satisfactory 
remedy for inflammation of any kind, and will harden 
the part to which it is applied better than anything I 
have ever used. If it is desired to work the horse 
after he has been treated with iodine, he may be 
jogged in a week or ten days after the first treatment. 



128 



CHAPTER XIV. 

IMPORTANCE OF KEEPING HORSES' FEET IN GOOD CON- 
DITION—PROPER WAY TO SHOE HORSES TO COR- 
RECT CERTAIN DEFECTS— WHEN PADS SHOULD 
BE USED AND THE PROPER KINDS FOR DIFFERENT 
HORSES. 

GENTLEMEN of experience do not need to be 
told that the foot is about the most important 
part of the anatomy that a horse carries to 
the race track ; hence, what I am about to say is not 
intended for their enlightenment ; but, as this book will 
probably be read by some who are just commencing to 
learn the art of properly caring for horses, I deem it 
proper to say that the old adage of '' no foot no 
horse " is as true to-day as when it was first promul- 
gated generations ago ; and that, as effect follows cause 
in any case, poor shoeing and want of proper atten- 
tion to the feet will produce a worthless race horse 
more effectually than the want of sufficient feed and 
grooming. The suggestions contained in this chapter 
are based upon my personal experience, and, if followed, 
will, I think, produce satisfactory results. 

A great many trotters, both colts and old horses, 
will forge and scalp when jogging. When they do this, 
I always use a square-toed shoe in front, also bevel the 
shoe on the outer edge near the toe from the hoof to 
the ground surface. Do not file off the hoof at the toe 
when it projects over the square of the shoe, only re- 
move the edge of the hoof with the rasp. You will 
129 



find this will be a great advantage to a great many old 
horses as well as colts. I have been using this kind of 
a shoe about twenty years and have had great success 
with it on some horses. The first horse I ever used 
them on was McCurdy's Hambletonian. When I took 
him he was very rough gaited, and would not trot any 
distance square and true, and would cut a new pair 
of leather scalpers all to pieces in one work-out. I 
knew that was the cause of his going rough gaited, and 
thought if I could stop it he would go much better. 
So I shod him several times in a short period, experi- 
menting. I finally filed the shoe square at the toe, 
like an old worn-out shoe, and he went much better 
for me. Then I began to square the shoe, and let the 
hoof project over. He went square and true, shod 
this way, and was a good horse and won many races. 
I find this a good way to shoe most trotters during the 
winter and spring while jogging, as they do not forge 
and scalp with the square-toed shoes ; and a great 
many horses do better with them taking their first 
work, as they quicken the action, especially long strid- 
ing horses ; and a great many horses that need scalp- 
ers with the ordinary shoe can go without them by 
using the square-toed shoe, which is quite an advan- 
tage, as the scalpers are a great impediment to a horse's 
speed, often causing him to carry more weight in front 
to balance the weight of the scalpers. Another advan- 
tage this shoe has, is this : Some horses are inclined to 
go a little sideways, that is, carrying one hind foot in 
between the front feet, and carrying the other hind 
foot out. When a horse does this, he will trot faster 
around a turn than he will through the stretch going 
straight. If he carries his right hind foot in, he will 
trot the wrong way of the track around the turn 
130 



faster than straight away. This shows that his stride 
is shorter with the foot he carries in. If it is the left 
hind foot he carries in, put a square-toed shoe on 
the left front foot, bevel the shoe from the 
foot to the ground surface on the outer edge near 
the toe ; put an ordinary-shaped shoe full at the 
toe on the right front foot ; on the right hind foot 
square the toe the same as on the left front foot ; on 
the left hind foot shoe full at the toe, the same as on 
the right front foot; have this shoe a quarter of an inch 
longer or more at the heel than the right hind foot, 
and throw the outside calk or heel out just a little 
more than the right foot, also put a piece of leather all 
around under the shoe to make this foot longer. I 
have been benefited by shoeing some horses this way 
when they were inclined to hitch and go sideways. I 
prefer a convex creased shoe beveled from the foot to 
the ground surface on most horses. A shoe made this 
way is stiffer, stronger, and protects the foot better, 
and breaks the concussion more, and the horse will 
have a better hold when his foot leaves the ground, as 
it is the natural shape of the horse's foot when bare- 
footed. It is very seldom that a pacer needs a square- 
toed shoe, unless he is a horse that is big gaited and 
needs his action quickened. Pacers do not forge and 
scalp with the toe of their front feet as trotters do. 
They very often clip the inner edge of the left front 
foot with the inner edge of the right hind foot and, 
vice versa, with right front foot and left hind foot. 
The way I have had best success in shoeing them is 
to use a shoe weighing six or seven ounces on the 
hind feet, a shade heavier on the outside and the 
shoe straightened on the inside from the point of the 
toe to the middle of the quarter, that is, about half way 
131 



from the toe to the heel. Let the hoof project over 
and round the edge with a rasp, also bevel the shoe 
well on the inside with a rasp from the foot to the 
ground surface. Have these shoes made with calks 
and run back about three-quarters of an inch longer 
than the foot ; on the front feet put ordinary shoes, 
weighing about the same as the hind shoes, and bevel 
well on the inside from the foot to the ground sur- 
face. Any pacer that crossfires will be very much im- 
proved this way. Hal Pointer had to be shod like this. 
Some pacers will need a little more weight in front and 
less behind, and some go best with light toe weights. 

A great many horses that wear light shoes have to 
be padded. To pad a horse right it is necessary for him 
to wear bar shoes. For pads I prefer to use firm pli- 
able leather, such material as is used in making horse 
collars ; and I prefer to use sponges instead of oakum. 
Take a fine quality of sponge just a little smaller than 
the foot, cut the sponge from the point of the frog to 
the heel of the foot so that the sponge will come down 
on either side of the frog, in order not to get too much 
frog pressure. Also lay a small piece of sponge in the 
center of the frog under the bar of the shoe. It is very 
important not to have too much sponge, as it will very 
often force the leather below the level of the shoe, 
particularly so on light shoes, which will make a horse 
very sore in its feet. Before putting on the sponge 
and pad apply Moore's hoof ointment liberally to the 
sole of the feet. 

There are a great many kinds and varieties of rubber 
pads now in use. I have found the most satisfactory 
pads for winter, while driving on the snow, to be the 
Mooney racing pads. These pads give plenty of 
frog pressure and cause the foot to spread. For some 
132 



horses they are the best for summer ; but, as a general 
thing, I prefer the leather pads I have spoken of for 
most horses for summer use. The Mooney racing 
pads are used without bar shoes. 

Some horses, that have excessive knee action and 
pound the ground hard, need a shoe with fine, sharp 
toe and heel calks, to break the concussion. To 
properly shoe a horse with these calks, a flat shoe 
should be used, with very light, sharp calks ; the 
calk should be about two inches long at the toe, set 
well back on the shoe from the toe and perfectly 
straight across, thereby allowing the horse to break 
over easy and causing no strain on the tendons ; the 
calks on the heel should be about one inch long, set 
lengthwise of the shoe. If the horse has to be shod 
with light shoes or pads, it is necessary to shoe him 
with bar shoes. Some horses, that have low hock 
action and are close gaited behind, will slide an inch 
or two on their hind feet when striking the ground 
going fast. In such cases I have had the best results 
by shoeing them behind without calks ; if calks 
are used, they will prevent the sliding and shorten 
the stride too much ; but for horses that do not thus 
slide I prefer to use calks on the hind shoe. 

Nature is more generous with some horses than 
with others respecting the bestowal of good feet. 
The perfect forefoot of a horse i^}4 hands high 
should measure about 3^ inches from the coronet 
to the point of the toe, and stand at an angle of 
about forty-seven degrees. The heel of the front 
foot should be about i^ inches long from the coronet 
to the bottom of the foot. Both the toe and heel of 
the hind foot should be a shade shorter than the front 
foot, and the foot should stand at an angle of about 
133 



sixty-two degrees. I do not believe in too long toes, as 
it brings too much strain on the tendons, and will soon 
cause lameness. Neither must the toe be too short, 
as that will cause tenderness, which is equally as detri- 
mental. The trainer is frequently admonished of the 
fact that vigilance is the price of keeping a horse's 
feet in proper condition, and if they are neglected he 
will soon learn, to his sorrow, that he has a race horse 
only in name. 

There are a great many good horseshoers all over 
the country. Mr. William Cope, who has been shoe- 
ing for me for the past two or three years, I consider 
as good a mechanic as I ever saw. He has a quick 
eye, handles the rasp well, can get the right angle of 
the foot with perfect ease and can make any kind of a 
shoe. He is perfectly reliable and willing, and never 
gets out of patience with a nervous, uneasy horse. 
He has been an important help to me in the races I 
have driven since he has been shoeing my horses. 



134 



CHAPTER XV. 

HORSES I HAVE GIVEN RECORDS — CONCLUSION. 

I DROVE the horses named below to the records 
indicated, which were their best records at the 
time they were made, and I believe are still their 
records except in the cases of Bonesetter, Mattie 
Hunter, Hal Dillard, Star Pointer, and Joe Patchen. 
The record I gave Joe Patchen of 2.01^ was in a race, 
and is the present race record ; but I believe he has 
since acquired a trial record of 2.01 j^. Besides the 
horses named, I have also driven a great many in races 
where I have been substituted for other drivers, and 
given them records better than 2.30 ; but I kept no 
records of such horses and do not remember their 
names. The list is as follows : 

TROTTERS. 

AdFIELD, 2.22^ 

Alice West, 2.26 

American Belle, 2.12^ 

Annie W., 2.20 

Athanio, 2,10 

Barkis, 2.25^ 

Battleton, 2.09% 

Beautiful Chimes, 2.22^ 

Bonesetter, 2.26 

■Boy Blue, 2.25^ 

Carillon, 2.16^ 

Charming Chimes, 2.17% 

135 



Cora, 2.26 

Dan, 2.24% 

Dare Devil, 2.09^ 

Dr. Almont, 2.21^ 

Dr. Norman, 2.19% 

Electmont, 2.22^ 

Emily, 2,11 

Equity, 2.12^ 

Excellence, -. . . . . . . 2.19^ 

Fantasy, ; . 2.06 

FiTz Royal, 2.13^ 

Frank Buford, . . . . . . 2.20 

Fred S. Wilkes, 2.1 1 

Globe, 2.14^ 

Hawley, 2.23^ 

Heir-at-Law, 2.12 

Henrietta, 2.17 

Honest George, 2.i4>^ 

J.B.Richardson, 2.17^^ 

Jeffe Lee, 2.22 

Joe Rhea, , . 2.23 

JosiE Chimes, 2.29^ 

June Bug, 2.29^ 

Kate Ashley, 2.22^ 

Keokee, 2.20^ 

Lady Geraldine, 2. 11 3^ 

Lord Derby, 2.07 

LucRETiA, 2.20 

McCurdy's Hambletonian, . . 2.26^ 

McEwEN, 2.18^ 

Merriment, 2.11^ 

Milan Chimes, 2.13% 

Nettie King, 2.20^ 

Nightingale, 2.08 

N. T. H., 2.171^ 

Onward Silver, 2.1 ij^ 

136 



Pansy, 2.17^ 

■Play Boy, 2.i8>^ 

Rex Americus, 2.11^ 

RoxiE M., 2.28^ 

Sixty-Six, 2.15^ 

Smith O'Brien, 2.29^ 

Stevie, 2.19 

Tennessee Wilkes, 2.27 

Texas Bill, 2.26%, 

The Abbott, 2.03}^ 

The Earl, 2.17 

The Monk, 2.08^ 

The Queen, 2.10)4^ 

Tocsin Chimes, 2.24^ 

True Chimes, 2.12^ 

Tudor Chimes, 2.13 

Valence, 2.12^ 

Wade Hampton, 2.29^ 

Wardwell, 2.1454^ 

X. Y. Z., ........ . 2.29>^ 



DOUBLE-TEAM RECORD. 

Belle Hamlin and Honest George, . . 2.12^ 

TRIPLE-TEAM RECORD. 

Belle Hamlin, Justina and Globe, . . 2.14 



137 



PACERS. 

Actor, 2.22^ 

Bay Tom, 2.23 

Bob Taylor, 2.23^^ 

Brandon, 2.12 

Bright Regent, 2.o6>^ 

Brown Hal, 2.12)^ 

Cassie, 2.28% 

Chimes Boy, 2.17^ 

Cuckoo, 2.16^ 

Duplex, 2.17^ 

Ed. Easton, 2.09% 

Elsinora, 2.12% 

Era Chimes, ........ 2.18% 

Frank Doi^h, 2.15% 

George Gordon, 2,27^ 

Glendennis, 2.17^ 

Hal Braden, 2.07^ 

Hal Dillard, 2.06 

Hal Pointer, 2.04% 

Head Light, 2.24^ 

Heir-at-Law, 2.05% 

Ildrim, 2.21^ 

Intone, 2.21% 

Intrepid, 2.26^ 

Jim Friel, 2.20% 

Joe Bowers, 2.18 

Joe Braden, 2.15% 

Joe Patchen, ....... 2.01^ 

KiTTIE B., 2. 1 1 

Lady of the Manor, .... 2.04% 

Mandolin, 2.16 

138 



Mattie Hunter, 2.13 

Mercury, 2.21 

Merry Chimes, 2.08^ 

Mocking Boy, 2.08^ 

Monogram, 2.20^ 

Moonstone, 2.09 

MORELIA, 2.10^ 

Nettle Keenan, 2.26)4 

Ovid, 2.15^ 

Red Fox, 2.10 

Red Oak, 2.13^ 

Robert J., 2.01^ 

Rockdale, 2.29^ 

Sailor Boy, 2.17^ 

Stanley P., 2.24^^ 

Star Pointer, 2.07 

Tom Wilkes, 2. 11 



Summary : 



Trotters, 68 

Pacers, 48 

Total, 116 



139 



WORLD'S RECORDS. 



I 



HAVE given world's records to the following 
horses, some of which stand as world's records 
and some have since been lowered, viz : 



Brown Hal, . . pacing stallion record. 

Hal Pointer, . . pacing gelding record. 

Fantasy, .... three-year-old race record. 

Fantasy, .... four-year-old mare race record. 

Fantasy, .... fastest four-heat race. 

Nightingale, . . three-mile record. 

Nightingale, . . two-mile race record. 

Robert J., . . . fastest gelding. 

Robert J., ... world's harness record. 

Robert J., ... fastest heat in race gelding. 

Robert J., ... fastest four-heat race. 

Joe Patchen, . . fastest race record. 
Lady of the Manor, fastest pacing mare. 
Lady of the Manor, fastest heat in race mare. 



fastest five-year-old trotting gelding, 
fastest six-year-old gelding, 
fastest two-heat race, 
fastest five-heat race, 
fastest race record to wagon, 
fastest trial to wagon, 
fastest trotting record. 



Lord Derby, 
The Abbott, 
The Abbott, 
The Abbott, 
The Abbott, 
The Abbott, 
The Abbott, 
Belle Hamlin and 

Honest George, fastest double-team record. 
Belle Hamlin, Globe 

and Justina, . fastest triple-team record. 
Heir-at-Law, . fastest race records, both trotting and 
pacing. 
140 



That others will surpass the record I have made, 
both as regards the number of horses driven and the 
time recorded, is highly probable, and yet I can 
frankly say that my ambition is measurably gratified. 
I have certainly achieved a far greater success than I 
had reason to anticipate at the dawn of a career to 
which my mature years have been devoted ; and if, in 
the years to come, I shall witness higher achievements 
by others than I have been able to obtain, I shall ever 
be ready and willing to extend to him or them the 
same cordial greeting with which I have always been 
favored. No tinge of envy or bitterness will mar the 
memories which cluster around the past. The good 
will I bear to those I have met in friendly rivalry, as 
well as to those who may in the future adorn a profession 
of which I only claim to be a humble member, will ever 
be cherished by me as one of the brightest jewels I 
possess. 



141 



INDEX. 

PAGE. 

Adonis, 62 

Alice West, 22, 28 

American Belle, 95 

Assistants, importance of having good, II2 

Bar shoes, when should be used, 133 

B. B., 61 

Beginners, Advice to, 1 18 

Belle Hamlin 62, 73 

Bessie Hal, 71 

Betsey Baker, 47 

Blackwood, Jr., II 

Blind Tom, 33. 34 

Bridle and Bits, 120 

Bright Regent, 89, 90 

Brown, Major Campbell, 22, 23 

Brown Hal, 59 

California, as place to winter horses, 113 

Calves, breaking and driving, , 13 

Caring for horses during preparatory work, 113 

Chafes and cracked heels, remedy for, 127 

Checks, kinds of, 121 

Chieftain, ii 

Chimes, 7^ 

Collision and unfair decision, 26 

Colt-breaking, 109-III 

Colt, My first 14 

Colt shows, 38 

Columbia, Tennessee, residence at, 23 

Conditions in Tennessee not favorable for trotting races, .... 10 

Converting pacer to trot, 20, 21 

Cope, William, 134 

County Fairs, 14 

Curry, Jack 83 

Dare Devil, loi, 102 

Date of career as trainer and driver, 18 

Dexter, 99 

Direct, 63 

143 



PAGE. 

Disinfectants, Importance of using, 126 

Doble, Budd, 79 

Double-Team record, 137 

Driving, suggestions about, 125 

Early Life, 13 

Easley, John, and hoodoo, 83, 84 

Ella Brown, Strange incident in training, 69 

Fanning, Rev. Talbot, 1 1, 18, 19 

Fantasy, 86-88 

Feeding horses in vi^inter and spring, 116 

Feet, best time to get in condition, 1 14 

Feet, importance of keeping in condition, 129 

First Lesson, My, in caring for race horses, 22 

First Monday, 35 

First Race, My, 18, 19 

Foot, Perfect, of horse 15^ hands high, 133 

Forging and scalping, remedy for, 1 29 

Fox hunting, 39 

Freeman, H. B., 109 

Fry, O. N., 49 

Fuller, George, 21 

Gibson's Tom Hal, 47 

Globe, . 73 

Glycerine, M^hen should be used, 127 

Goldston, Wm., 37 

Grand Circuit, 103 

*« Great Discovery," when to be used, 124 

Greenlander, 75 

Hal Family, 47, 70 

Hal Pointer, 59 

Hamlin, C. J., 72, 77, loi 

Hamlin, Harry, 72 

Harness, should fit well, 120 

Heir-at-Law, . 93, 94 

Hock action, when low, how to shoe, 133 

Honest George, 73? 80 

Horses, working and preparing for races, 1 21, 122 

Hotspur, race with, 78 

Humphrey's Homeopathic Remedies, 126 

Iodine, how and when to use, 127, 128 

Jockey Day, 36 

144 



PAGE. 

Joe Braden, 29 

Joe Patchen, 82, 83 

Jogging, general rules for I19 

John R. Gentry, 82 

Justina, 73 

Kittrell's Hal, 47 

Knee action, when high, proper way to shoe, 133 

Lady of the Manor, 97> 98 

Little Brown Jug, 49 

Little Dave, 18 

Lizzie, • 49 

Locomotive, 52 

Lord Derby, ... • 99, lOO 

L^cy, 33» 34 

McDowell, Andy, 83 

Mambrino King, 78 

Marvin, Charles, 125 

Mattie Hunter, 31-34 

Milan Chimes, 96 

Montgomery, accident at, 24 

Mooney's Rubber Pads, recommended, 132 

Moore's Hoof Ointment, when to apply, 132 

Morgan Horses, ii, 18 

Mountain Slasher, 37 

Mud, racing in, 75> 83 

Nightingale, 74, 75 

Old horses, how disposed of, 66 

Old Spot, 41 

Pacers driven to records, 138, 139 

Pacers, how to shoe, 131 

Pacing gait not appreciated, 10 

Pads, how and when to use, 132 

Parents object to my becoming trainer and driver, 16 

Pneumatic sulky, first used in Grand Circuit, 79 

Preparing horses for campaigning, II4 

Prince Pulaski, 31 

Quarters, when defective, how to remedy, 115 

Race Track, My first, 16 

Raymond, Tom, 83 

Receipt for wash in certain cases, 124 

Repeats, when to give, 121 

145 



PAGE. 

Robert J., , 8i 

Rowdy Boy, 33, 34 

Roy Wilkes, 56 

Saddle Horses first used in Tennessee, 10 

Salisbury, Monroe, 83 

Scenery, change of, advisable, 119 

Selma, Alabama, desirable place to winter horses, 1 13 

Sheep, use of, to dry race track, 83 

Shoeing to correct certain defects, 129, 130, 131, 133 

Sickness in horses, suggestions about, 126 

Sky Blue, 70 

Sleepy George, 32 

Southern Circuit, 23 

Southern climate, advantages of, for winter training, . . . 113, I ^ 

Speeding horses in early winter, 120 

Springs, when and how to use, 1 14, 115 

Sulky, only time ever taken out of, 29 

Teeth, importance of keeping in good condition, . * 117 

Tennessee, Leaving, for Village Farm, 77 

Tennessee, pacing-bred pacers, 71 

Tennessee pastimes, 35 

Tennessee, settlement of, 9 

The Abbott, 103, 108 

The Monk, 91, 92 

Thrush, Remedy for, 127 

Toe, must not be too long or too short, 134 

Training stable should be properly conducted, 1 12, 113 

Triple Team, difficulty in driving, 73 

Triple Team, record, 137 

Trotter, My first, 15 

Trotters driven to records, 135-137 

Trouble, Ii 

Troupe and Flounce, 40 

Vaseline, when should be used, 127 

Village Farm, 72, 77, 78 

Wash, proper to use after working horse, 124 

Wash (stringent), to be used after treatment for lameness, . . . 128 

White, Ben, 1 12 

Woodruff, Hiram, . . J 99 

World's records, . , ff } 140 

Yolo Maid, 63 



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